The Ninth Circuit held that the BLM violated NEPA when it approved a mining company's amendment to a plan of operations for an existing mineral exploration project in Nevada. The BLM took a hard look at the direct impacts of the amendment and its discussion of reasonable alternatives was proper, but...

The Tenth Circuit rejected environmental and citizens' groups challenge to a 2003 BLM resource management plan amendment allowing natural gas development in Wyoming's Powder River Basin. The groups alleged that BLM violated NEPA when it refused to study in detail their proposal to phase development ...

The Second Circuit held that the USDA complied with NEPA and the Plant Protection Act when it adopted new regulations for the importation of solid wood packaging material into the United States. The final rule required that all solid wood packaging material be either heat treated to a minimum wood c...

A district court held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (the Corps') final supplemental environmental impact statement (FSEIS), designed to avoid jeopardy to the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow in the Everglades National Park in connection with a water and flood control project in souther...

A district court denied plaintiff environmental group's motion for summary judgment under the Administrative Procedure Act to compel compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and to enforce a 1987 stipulation. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) did not violate NEPA's policy prohi...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of an action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in which an environmental group sought injunctive, declaratory, and other relief relating to the preparation of certain environmental...

The D.C. Circuit denied citizen advocacy groups' claim that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Atomic Energy Act when it granted a license for a new, privately owned facility in New Mexico to produce enriched uranium as fuel for nuclear reactors....

The Fourth Circuit affirmed an award of attorney fees in a citizen suit brought under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act with respect to the preliminary injunction phase of the litigation, but reversed fees awarded for the supplemental claims phase. The supplemental phase included plaint...

A district court dismissed a lawsuit filed by Alaska native groups seeking to rescind certain oil and gas leases issued by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) in 2007. The MMS prepared an EIS in 2003 for lease sales that were to occur in 2003, 2005, and 2007. Because of the time lag between the 20...

The D.C. Circuit upheld the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI's) interpretation of "valid existing rights" in a 1999 rule to foreclose surface mining operations in sensitive areas. A mining association argued that Congress inserted "valid existing rights" in the Surface Mining Control and Recla...