The Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing Mississippi residents' class action lawsuit against several energy, fossil fuel, and chemical companies for their alleged contribution to climate change. The residents argued that the companies intentionally and unreasonably used their pro...

The Sixth Circuit held that a group of residents lacked standing to challenge the TVA's implementation of a land management plan for a nearby reservoir under NEPA and the Tennessee Valley Authority Act. The residents failed to connect the procedural harm alleged in their complaint—the creation of ...

A district court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the shipment of Hawaiian garbage to a landfill located on lands ceded by the Yakama Nation in Washington State near the Columbia River. There are serious questions as to whether the USDA adequately analyzed the environmental impacts of ...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the statute of limitations governing the U.S. Court of Federal Claims requires sua sponte consideration of the timeliness of a lawsuit filed in that court, despite the government's waiver of the issue. The case involved a company's claims that various federal activit...

The First Circuit affirmed a lower court order permanently enjoining several members and officials of the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board from imposing a $76 million fine on an oil company in connection with leaking underground storage tanks. The lower court was not required to abstain from ...

The D.C. Circuit vacated a lower court judgment enjoining the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) from authorizing the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to lethally take gray wolves for depredation control. Since the lower court issued its decision, the DOI removed the gray wolf population...

The Court holds that abuse of discretion is the proper standard by which to review a district court's decision to admit or exclude scientific evidence. The Court first holds that the court of appeals applied an overly stringent review of the exclusion of the plaintiff's experts' testimony, thereby f...

The Court holds that the Fifth Circuit lacked jurisdiction over a suit to set aside a 1982 settlement agreement that quieted title to lands on Horn Island, Mississippi, in U.S. favor. After concluding that the Quiet Title Act conferred jurisdiction, the Fifth Circuit, relying on a 1781 Spanish land ...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that environmental groups lack standing to challenge U.S. Forest Service regulations exempting certain land management activities from the agency's review process absent a live dispute over the concrete application of those regulations. The regulations exempt small fire-r...

The Ninth Circuit dismissed as unripe property owner's CERCLA and RCRA claims against the former owners for the costs of removing lead and other pollutants deposited on the land, which had been used as a shooting range. The owner's asserted cleanup costs are speculative and were calculated without r...