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Weekly Cases Update Volume 43, Issue 7

Great Old Broads for Wilderness v. Kimbrell

43 ELR 20045
11-16183 (9th Cir., March 2013)
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The Ninth Circuit upheld the U.S. Forest Service's record of decision determining the method for restoring a flood-damaged road in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada. The Forest Service's interpretation of the applicable fish and wildlife restoration standards is reasonable....

Humboldt National Forest, Nev., Toiyabe National Forest, Nev.

In re Polar Bear Endangered Species Act Listing

43 ELR 20050
11-5219 (D.C. Cir., March 2013)
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The D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court decision upholding FWS' listing of the polar bear as threatened under the ESA, in part due to the effects of global climate change. Below, a number of industry groups argued that the listing rule is arbitrary and capricious under the APA and that FWS'...

Wildlife

Muwekma Ohlone Tribe v. Salazar

43 ELR 20046
11-5328 (D.C. Cir., March 2013)
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The D.C. Circuit upheld DOI's decision not to grant the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe's petition to be recognized as an Indian tribe. Muwekma is a group of American Indians from the San Francisco Bay area. Its members descended from a previously recognized tribe called the Verona Band, yet there is no...

Indian Reorganization Act

Desert Protective Council v. United States Department of the Interior

43 ELR 20048
12cv1281 (S.D. Cal., February 2013)
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A district court upheld BLM's approval of a record of decision (ROD) and its grant of a right of way (ROW) allowing the construction of a utility-scale wind project in California's Sonoran Desert. Conservation groups challenged BLM's actions under NEPA and FLPMA. But BLM's decision to grant the...

Discussion of, held adequate, Energy (generally), Rights-of-way

Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation v. United States Department of the Interior

43 ELR 20047
12cv1167-GPC (S.D. Cal., February 2013)
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A district court upheld BLM's approval of a record of decision (ROD) allowing the construction of 112 wind turbines in an area that contains cultural and biological significance to a Native American tribe. BLM's decision to approve the ROD was reasonable as it considered all relevant factors and...

Cultural resources, Cumulative impacts, Energy (generally), Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA)

Schmeer v. County of Los Angeles

43 ELR 20049
B240592 (Cal. App. Ct. 2d Dist., February 2013)
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A district court upheld a county ordinance prohibiting retail stores from providing plastic carryout bags and requiring them to charge customers 10 cents for each paper carryout bag provided. The paper carryout bag charge is not a tax under the California Constitution because the charge is...

General

Patriot Mining Co. v. Sierra Club

43 ELR 20044
11-AA-102, -104, (W. Va. Cir. Ct., February 2013)
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A West Virginia court reversed a decision by the state environmental quality board in which it remanded a NPDES permit for a mining company to the state environmental agency for further review and analysis. The board's decision not to defer to the state agency's interpretation of water quality...

NPDES permit program, State programs, §402(b)
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