A district court vacated on remand OSM's approval of an underground coal mine expansion in central Montana. Environmental groups initially challenged OSM's 2018 EA for the proposed expansion. The Ninth Circuit held that OSM violated NEPA by failing to provide convincing reasons for its determination...
The Tenth Circuit dismissed a petition to review NRC's grant of a temporary license for spent nuclear fuel storage near the New Mexico border. New Mexico argued NRC violated NEPA and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, and acted ultra vires in granting the license. NRC moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdi...
The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) and FHwA in a challenge to their approval of a toll bridge across North Carolina's Currituck Sound that would connect the northern Outer Banks with the mainland. Environmental and community group...
The Sixth Circuit reversed a district court's denial of a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit concerning a Kentucky law that offsets the state's severance tax on coal. A coal producer from Illinois, where there is no severance tax, argued the law discriminated against out-of-state coal in violation ...
The Tenth Circuit reversed a district court ruling that affirmed BLM's environmental impact analysis for 370 applications for permits to drill (APDs) for oil and gas in New Mexico's San Juan Basin. Environmental groups argued that BLM's 81 EAs and EA addendum violated NEPA because the Bureau imprope...
A district court granted in part and denied in part cross-motions for summary judgment in a challenge to BLM's approval of a new open-pit phosphate mine in southeast Idaho. Environmental groups argued the approval violated NEPA, FLPMA, and the CWA. The court found BLM failed to adequately consider t...
The D.C. Circuit granted EPA's motion to dismiss an industry group's challenge to interim lifetime health advisories for two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water. The court found that the group identified alleged harm facing an indirect subsidiary of one of its members, but failed t...
The Tenth Circuit upheld a joint resolution passed by Congress and signed by President Trump that disapproved the Stream Protection Rule, which was adopted by DOI under the Obama Administration. Nonprofit groups argued that the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which Congress used to repeal the rule, ...
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court's remand to state court of a lawsuit concerning dredging operations in a ship channel near Corpus Christi. The port authority sued a dredging company in state court, alleging that the company's operations resulted in physical trespass and encroachments on ...
A district court denied a civil rights group's motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Federal Highway Administration's (FHwA's) approval of a categorical exclusion for a highway improvement project in Pennsylvania. The group argued the approval violated NEPA. The court found the group fai...