The Eighth Circuit reversed and remanded a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Department of Transportation on a city's claims that the agency insufficiently considered the economic and environmental impact of a sound wall in violation of the National Environmental Policy Ac...

The court holds that the Alaska mining commissioner permissibly nullified the mining rights acquired by a mining claims locator on state-selected federal lands. The court first holds that the commissioner did not err in finding that the locator was not qualified to conduct business in Alaska and, th...

The court reverses a district court summary judgment decision that ordered the owners of unpatented mill site claims in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona to remove themselves and all their things from the sites and to restore the sites to their natural condition. The government sought to evict th...

The court holds that a timber association lacks standing under the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to challenge the U.S. Forest Service's promulgation of an interim final rule that suspends road construction decisionmaking for 18 months in certa...

The court denies a property owner's petition to review the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) authorization of the construction of a pipeline that would traverse part of the owner's historic property. The court first holds that it has jurisdiction to hear the claim. Although the landown...

The court accepts and enters a consent decree between a citizen group and West Virginia's environmental agency that commits the agency to strengthen the application and oversight of the state's surface coal mining program authorized under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The g...

The court upholds a district court determination that the Animal and Plant Inspection Service satisfied the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it prepared a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for a regulation addressing foreign pest infestation of plants and hardwoods. The...

The court affirms two Federal Communications Commission (FCC) orders that promulgated guidelines for health and safety standards for radio frequency radiation. In addition to health and safety requirements, the guidelines streamlined procedures for meeting requirements under the National Environment...

The court holds that a district court properly granted summary judgment to the city of Philadelphia on residents' Administrative Procedure Act (APA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) claims that the city did not properly perform environmental an...

The court reverses a district court and holds that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Marine Fisheries Service, and other federal defendants violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by preparing an untimely and inadequate environmental assessment (E...