A district court struck down BLM's 2016 rule promulgating new regulations to reduce natural gas waste during oil and gas production activities on federal land and Indian leases. States argued that the rule exceeded BLM's statutory authority and was otherwise arbitrary and capricious. The court found...

A district court denied a steel mill owner's motion to preliminarily enjoin construction of a gas pipeline in Texas. The owner argued that the Army Corps of Engineers authorized the construction in violation of the CWA, the ESA, and NEPA. The court found that the owner had not clearly demonstrated a...

A district court dismissed for lack of standing a challenge to the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA's) rate change for customers in its seven-state service area. Environmental groups argued that TVA violated NEPA by enacting the rate change based on a deficient EA, by failing to consider the enviro...

A district court denied environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin or stay a rule issued by CEQ revising the regulations for federal agencies to follow in implementing NEPA. The groups argued that the rule was inconsistent with NEPA because, among other things, it improperly removed the re...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the U.S. Navy in a challenge to its decisions to relocate troops from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam and construct training facilities on the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Environmental groups argued the Navy's decisions were "connected...

The California Supreme Court held that a county's policy of approving permits for new water wells without environmental review violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Conservation groups argued that issuances of the permits were discretionary, not ministerial, projects and thus req...

A district court denied a motion to preliminarily enjoin further construction of a 429-mile natural gas pipeline in Texas. An environmental group sought to halt work on the pipeline at 129 water crossings, arguing the Army Corps of Engineers authorized construction at those crossings in violation of...

A district court denied summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to the Forest Service's approval of a tree-thinning project in Los Padres National Forest. The groups argued that the Service violated NEPA by failing to properly analyze the risk to endangered California condors before...

A district court granted in part and denied in part a motion to vacate BLM's approval of three leases for oil and gas development in southeastern New Mexico. An environmental group argued that BLM violated NEPA by failing to consider cumulative climate effects, failing to incorporate the social cost...

A district court granted summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to the Forest Service's approval of a site-specific project involving restoration activities in Payette National Forest. The groups initially argued that the project violated the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) b...