The court holds that most of the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed highway realignment through Hatton Canyon near Carmel-by-the-Sea in California satisfies the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The court then address...

The court affirms a district court decision that the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS') and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) participation in a Hawaii Department of Water Supply (DWS) transmission project did not constitute a major federal action that triggered the National E...

The court holds that a city and county have standing to challenge the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) for implementing a water rights acquisition plan in Nevada before preparing a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS). The court first holds that the National Environmental Policy A...

The court holds that an interstate radioactive waste commission can sue a member state for violating the good-faith provisions of a radioactive waste compact. The court first holds that the Eleventh Amendment does not bar the commission's suit against the state. Congress has the plenary power to att...

The court holds that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Eastern Enterprises v. Apfel, 118 S. Ct. 2131 (1998), does not undercut the constitutionality of retroactive liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). In Eastern Enterprises, the Supre...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision invalidating the U.S. Forest Service's 2007 travel management plan for parts of the Lewis and Clark National Forest. Nothing in the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977, which requires the Service to manage a wilderness study area so as to "maintain"...

A district court held that EPA's Multi-Criteria Integrated Resource (MCIR) Assessment and Enhanced Coordination (EC) Process, adopted to screen mountaintop mining permits, violates the CWA and the APA. The MCIR Assessment involves EPA applying the CWA §404(b)(1) guidelines and directing the Corps o...

A district court held that BLM's EISs associated with the Craters of the Moon and Pinedale resource management plans (RMPs) failed to adequately analyze impacts to the sage-grouse in violation of NEPA. The Craters of the Moon EIS did not discuss in any manner alternatives that reduced grazing short...

The Third Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Forest Service prohibiting it from halting any drilling in the Allegheny National Forest until a multi-year, forestwide EIS under NEPA is complete. Until recently, oil and gas drilling in the Forest was managed through a cooperative ...

A district court enjoined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from continuing with its Industrial Canal Lock Replacement Project in New Orleans until it complies with NEPA and the CWA. The canal is a manmade waterway that provides access from Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway to...