The court holds that the citizen suit provision of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), §520(f), provides a federal cause of action for the recovery of damages resulting from violation of state regulations that are a part of the state's surface coal mining and reclamation regulat...

The court holds that home builders lack standing to bring an Endangered Species Act (ESA) §11 citizen suit against the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for issuing a technical correction to a final rule without using the required Administrative Procedure Act no...

The court denies several utilities' and states' broad request for a writ of mandamus that would require the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to begin disposing of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act's (NWPA's) January 31, 1998, deadline. But the court precludes DOE from excusing ...

The court holds that an animal welfare group and three individuals lack standing to challenge a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulation that allows exhibitors of captive primates to develop independent primate psychological enhancement plans. The individuals claimed...

The Court holds that an environmental group lacks standing to maintain a suit for purely past violations of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). After receiving notice from the group of its failure to report EPCRA information in a timely fashion, the manufacturer filed all...

The court upholds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) decision to grant California a Clean Air Act (CAA) §209(b) waiver allowing the state to enforce its own on-board emissions diagnostic device (OBD) regulations, which contain OBD antitampering provisions. The court also upholds EPA...

The court upholds a U.S. Department of Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) determination that a company's failure to file a stipulation of entry rendered its mining claims null and void ab initio. When the Secretary of the Interior opened certain lands to mining claims in 1954, he required that a ...

The court dismisses a power company's petitions for review of two preamble statements made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in conjunction with a proposed rule concerning state authorization of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action programs at interim statu...

The court holds that the Bureau of Reclamation violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by renewing water supply contracts with several water districts in California before consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The districts rely ...

The court upholds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' decisions to deny permits that would have allowed landowners to build camp structures on their property in the Atchafalaya floodway in Louisiana. The landowners purchased their property subject to a perpetual flowage, channel, and disposal easement...