The D.C. Circuit denied environmental groups' petitions to review NRC's denial of their requests to intervene in licensing proceedings for construction and operation of a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico. An energy company had applied for a license to construct and operate the facil...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed petitions to review EPA actions applying and enforcing regulations that govern disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCRs). Owners and operators of coal-fired power plants argued EPA's actions amended existing legislative rules governing disposal of CCRs and that the Agen...

A district court granted in part and denied in part an outdoor recreation group's motion to preliminarily enjoin the National Park Service's (NPS') regulations governing commercial filming on public lands. The group argued the regulations' land use fee and permitting requirements violated the First ...

The Fifth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a constitutional challenge brought by a pipeline company concerning a 1949 permit a local levee board granted to the company to construct and maintain two pipelines across a levee in Mayersville, Mississippi. The company argued the board violated the Contracts...

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the Takings Clause does not distinguish between legislative and administrative land use permit conditions, in a lawsuit concerning a traffic impact fee as a condition of building a prefabricated home on a parcel of land. The landowner challenged the fee a...

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that Texas property owners should be permitted to pursue claims under the Takings Clause through an inverse-condemnation cause of action available under Texas law. Over 120 property owners argued that a Texas highway elevation and expansion project, which buil...

A district court denied a mining company's motion for partial summary judgment in a lawsuit concerning pollution from the company's British Columbia smelter along the Upper Columbia River. Tribal members sought natural resource damages for contamination of the river. The company argued the members' ...

A district court granted DOE's motion to dismiss a lawsuit over the social and economic impacts of storing spent nuclear fuel at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Butte County argued DOE should have determined the social and economic impacts of storing the materials at INL because they were there pur...

The Fourth Circuit reversed a district court order abstaining from ruling on constitutional claims brought by mineral interest owners challenging amendments to West Virginia's oil and gas conservation law. Plaintiffs argued the amendments, which for the first time authorized "unitization of interest...

A district court dismissed a RCRA citizen suit over a closure plan for a coal-fired power plant in Alabama. An environmental group challenged the plan, arguing it was unlawful to permanently store over 21 million tons of coal ash and toxic pollutants in the existing unlined impoundment, situated in ...