The D.C. Circuit held that it lacks jurisdiction over petitions for review of a FERC order granting a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the construction of a natural gas pipeline connecting New York and New Jersey. Environmental groups sought review, claiming that FERC violated NEP...

A district court held that a doctor lacks standing to challenge a Pennsylvania law that prohibits doctors from disclosing the mixture of chemical fluids used during hydraulic fracturing when treating patients for chemical exposure. Doctors have a professional and ethical obligation to communicate cr...

New York's highest court held that local governments may ban oil and gas production activities, including hydraulic fracturing, through the adoption of local zoning laws. The case arose after two towns enacted zoning laws banning hydraulic fracturing within their jurisdictions. A private gas company...

The Seventh Circuit, for the second time, vacated a FERC order that allocates costs for certain new high-voltage network transmission lines in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. The order allocates the costs of the lines across all the utilities in proportion to each utility’s respective sales. But the...

The Supreme Court of Texas held that an oil and gas company may use a road on landowner's property to access its underground mineral rights. The company held an interest oil and gas rights under the landowners' property in addition to several adjoining tracts. In 2000, it pooled the tracts, thereby ...

The D.C. Circuit held that FERC violated NEPA when it approved the expansion of a natural gas pipeline in the Northeast. The project will upgrade a portion of a much longer natural gas pipeline known as the 300 Line. An environmental group challenged the approval, arguing that FERC violated NEPA whe...

A district court dismissed mineral rights owners' lawsuits against a number of energy companies that operate oil and gas wells in North Dakota's Bakken Shale region. The owners alleged that the companies have illegally flared gas from the wells and that they are therefore due royalties on the illega...

A district court, in three separate opinions, dismissed several mineral rights owners' lawsuits against a number of energy companies that operate oil and gas wells in North Dakota's Bakken Shale region. The owners alleged that the companies have illegally flared gas from the wells and that they are ...

A district court dismissed several mineral rights owners' lawsuits against a number of energy companies that operate oil and gas wells in North Dakota's Bakken Shale region. The owners alleged that the companies have illegally flared gas from the wells and that they are therefore due royalties on th...

The Sixth Circuit held that DOE's environmental review of a proposed plant that would convert lumber into ethanol complied with NEPA. The company that plans to build the plant sought financial assistance from DOE, which is directed to fund alternative energy projects under the Energy Policy Act of 2...