The court holds that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in connection with its transfer of surplus plutonium from Colorado to South Carolina. DOE argued that the governor of South Carolina, who filed suit against DOE, lacked standing becaus...

The court affirms in part and vacates in part a district court's award of attorney fees to environmental groups that sought to rescind new mining permits issued to a company that owned a mine in violation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The U.S. Department of the Interior'...

A district court largely denied a tribe's motions for summary judgment on claims that the BLM violated NEPA and FLPMA in approving a gold mining and processing operation on and around Mt. Tenabo in Lander County, Nevada. The Ninth Circuit already issued a preliminary injunction requiring the BLM to ...

The court denies two Missouri cities' petition to review the Surface Transportation Board's approval of restoration train service over an unused 278-mile railroad line without performing an environmental assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act.
The cities argued that the propose...

The D.C. Circuit denied petitions to review two Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulations concerning the project design and capacity expansion of Alaska natural gas transportation projects. The petitioner wants to construct a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope of Alaska to the c...

A district court dismissed an environmental group's claim that the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Transportation Act in approving an environmental impact statement (EIS) for a new transportation project designed to improve commuting betwe...

The court holds that the Federal Highway Administration and the West Virginia Department of Transportation's decision to support the building of a new, four-lane highway as part of the Appalachian Highway Development System complied with the National Environmental Policy Act and §4(f) of the Depart...

The court upholds the U.S. Forest Service's interpretation of the term "native" and its environmental assessment (EA) for an ecological project in Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. The appellants argued that the ecological project will have an adverse effect on shortleaf pines and pine warblers i...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service failed to comply with National Forest Management Act (NFMA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements in determining whether to allow a timber sale in the Payette National Forest in Idaho. The court first holds that the Forest Service fail...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service's approval of a proposed timber sale in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska violated the National Forest Management Act (NFMA), but did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The court first holds that the Forest Service's tentative o...