The court rules that "knowingly" within the meaning of the Endangered Species Act's criminal penalty provisions requires only that the government show that a defendant intentionally shot an animal and that the animal turned out to be an endangered or threatened species. The government is not require...

The court holds that a federal taking claim based on a scenic easement ordinance is not ripe because appellees have not sought a variance from the ordinance. The court first notes that a mere diminution in property value or potential profit is not a taking. Specifically, a height limitation preservi...

The court holds that the environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its noxious weed control program for five northwest states adequately considered alternatives involving less use of herbicides and contained a sufficient worst-case analysis. The court f...

The court holds that plaintiffs are entitled to attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) for work done in connection with a challenge to a Forest Service timber road under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The court first holds that ...

The court holds that enactment of the Florida Wilderness Act moots prospecting permit holders' claims that they are entitled to preference-right phosphate mining leases in the Osceola National Forest. The Secretary of the Interior had denied the lease applications based on reports that successful re...

The court holds that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act by not preparing an environmental impact statement in connection with timber sale contracts in a national forest where giant sequoia redwood trees are located. The court holds that the proposed timber sales, which...

The court holds that the Illinois regulations under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act are partially valid and partially invalid. Though the Secretary of the Interior approved the Illinois regulations based on federal regulations, promulgated in 1983, governing valid existing rights, the...

The court rules that in awarding attorney fees pursuant to Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §505 to for-profit public interest law firms that customarily bill less than the market rate, the lodestar should be calculated according to community market rates. The court first rejects three a...

The court holds that the successor corporation of the seller of a tract of industrial land is not liable to the purchaser for response costs the purchaser incurred under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) in cleaning up asbestos contamination at the si...

The court holds that a small business that has been dismissed as a defendant in an action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act is entitled to attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). The court holds that the United States was not substant...