A district court granted an electric transmission developer's motion for preliminary injunction against Indiana's 2023 law that granted incumbent transmission owners a right of first refusal to build transmission projects in their service areas. The developer argued the law blocked it from bidding o...

A district court granted in part nonprofit and public interest groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS') 2020 rule concerning regulation of genetically engineered (GE) organisms. The groups argued the rule effectively abandoned fe...

A district court denied USDA's motion to alter judgment in a lawsuit challenging the Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS') 2020 final rule concerning pre-1996 wetland certifications. An environmental group had challenged the rule, arguing it violated the APA, the ESA, and NEPA. The court ...

The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part a trade group's petition to review the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA's) 2022 revised safety standards for natural gas transportation. The group challenged five of the standards, alleging flaws in the rulemaking pro...

The D.C. Circuit affirmed a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order licensing a new satellite system. An environmental group argued the FCC's decision not to perform an environmental review of light pollution and atmospheric effects of the system violated NEPA. The court found the license fell...

The U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, denied two states' motion to enter into a consent decree in a lawsuit concerning a 1938 interstate agreement that apportions the waters of the Rio Grande River among Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Texas initially sued Colorado and New Mexico, arguing excessive groundwa...

A district court granted DOI's motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning tribal water rights on the Crow Reservation in Montana. Tribal members who hold property on the reservation challenged the 2010 Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act (Settlement Act), which provided benefits to the tribe in excha...

The Tenth Circuit affirmed denial of conservation groups' claims in a lawsuit concerning the Bureau of Reclamation's decision to sign a water contract allowing the state of Utah to draw from reservoir releases rather than the Green River and its tributaries. The groups argued the Bureau violated NEP...

The U.S. Supreme Court held, 5-4, that an 1868 peace treaty between the Navajo Nation and the United States establishing the Navajo Reservation reserved necessary water to accomplish the purpose of the reservation, but did not require the U.S. government to take affirmative steps to secure water for...

The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, denied a municipal irrigation district's request to compel a district court to remand to state court its motion for preliminary injunction in a suit concerning water allocation in the Klamath Basin. The district initially sought to stop the Bureau of Reclamation from releasin...