The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision denying an environmental group's request to preliminarily enjoin the U.S. Forest Service's approval of a timber sale in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The group argued that the Service failed to adequately evaluate the cumulative effects of the ...

A district court held that under Wyoming law, an insurance company need not cover a pipeline operator for damages resulting from a ruptured pipeline that discharged more than 4,000 barrels of crude oil over a five-day period. The policy's pollution exclusion clause bars coverage for the spill. Altho...

The D.C. Circuit held that a mining company's failure to maintain adequate emergency lifelines in its mine's escapeways was a significant and substantial violation of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, thereby affirming the Department of Labor's Federal Mine Safety & Health Review C...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed as unripe a trade association's lawsuit challenging portions of a Federal Rail Administration (FRA) rule that requires qualifying rail carriers to submit an implementation plan to install a "positive train control" (PTC) system no later than December 31, 2015, on certain t...

The Federal Circuit held that organic farmers lack standing to seek a declaratory judgment of non-infringement with respect to 23 patents owned by a large seed manufacturer. The farmers do not intend to use the manufacturer's seeds, but given the proliferation of genetically modified seeds today, it...

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down portions of the Los Angeles port's "Clean Truck Program," which was designed in part to reduce emissions related to port operations, including emissions from trucks. The concession agreements implementing the plan set forth a number of provisions covering, among ot...