A district court held that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) improperly segmented its analysis of a petroleum pipeline construction project in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The BLM erroneously determined that the pipeline segment had independent utility from another proposed ...

The court vacated a lower court order denying environmental groups' motion for attorneys fees in an underlying case challenging a surface mining operation permit. In that case, the groups sought, and eventually obtained, a writ of mandamus setting aside the permit. Pursuant to California Code of Civ...

The court upholds a district court decision that the U.S. Navy's environmental impact statement (EIS) for the construction of an aircraft landing field in North Carolina was deficient under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), but it vacates the court's injunction of the project as overly b...

A court dismisses an environmental group's Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Environmental Policy Act claims against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries concerning logging activity on private lands in Humboldt County, California, a...

The court holds that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers complied with the National Environmental Policy Act in connection with its plan to preserve an aquifer in the Grand Prairie Region in East Central Arkansas, a major rice producing area. The plan includes the construction of a system that would pu...

The court upholds the U.S. Forest Service's decision allowing the salvage of dead and/or dying trees on up to 250 acres to proceed without the preparation of an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment. The methodology the Forest Service used in promulgating the categorical exclusi...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service violated the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) in its approval of a timber salvage project in the Manti-La Sal Forest in Utah, but that the court did not have jurisdiction to review National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) claims brought against the F...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service's environmental impact statement (EIS) for a post-fire logging project on the Six Rivers National Forest violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) and, therefore, enjoins the Forest Service from any furth...

The court holds that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) failed to adequately consider the cumulative impacts on the natural quiet of Zion National Park in its environmental assessment (EA) for a nearby airport expansion project. The court first holds that the FAA's EA failed to address the to...

The court affirms a district court decision requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) and to issue a critical habitat designation for the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow within 120 days. In 1994, the minnow was listed as an endangered species. FW...