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The Riches of the Desert: Can the Bureau of Land Management Reject a Mining Operation Based on Historic and Cultural Concerns?

At first glance, the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) is a 25-million-acre expanse of sand dunes, brush lands, rock formations, and loneliness and desolation. However, a cursory look at the landscape belies the desert's significant historical, scenic, archeological, environmental, biological, cultural, scientific, educational, recreational, and economic resources" that the U.S. Congress recognized when it dedicated the area in 1976.

Arrest the Incinerator Remediation, Inc. v. OHM Remediation Servs. Corp.

The court holds that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) preempts a citizens group's private state-law nuisance action against a contractor hired by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remediate a Superfund site. The court first holds that...

United States v. Penn Hills, Municipality of

The court holds that a municipality is liable for diverting raw sewage from its treatment facilities and for discharging pollutants that exceeded allowable effluent limitations in violation of its national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permits. The court first holds that the municip...

South Dakota Mining Ass'n v. Lawrence County

The court holds that the Federal Mining Act of 1872 preempts a local zoning ordinance that bans surface metal mining within the Spearfish Canyon area of South Dakota. The court first holds that miners' preemption claim against the county ordinance is ripe. The miners have shown a realistic danger of...

Kleissler v. U.S. Forest Serv.

The court holds that local school districts, municipalities, and timber companies may intervene as of right in litigation brought by plaintiff-environmentalists to restrict logging activities in the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. The court first notes that the parties do not dispute the ...

Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v. Pence

The court upholds a U.S. Forest Service decision to allow a timber sale in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon. The Forest Service's decision allows the harvest of approximately 10.7-million-board feet of timber from approximately 3,560 acres, which includes 92 acres of conifers encroaching on asp...

Everett v. United States

The court upholds the U.S. Forest Service's denial of a special use permit to land a private helicopter on a parcel of the Sawtooth National Forest that abuts the permit applicant's vacation property in rural Idaho. The court first holds that the Forest Service reasonably interpreted 36 C.F.R. §251...

Amigos Bravos v. Molycorp, Inc.

The court holds that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction to review environmental groups' Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen suit against a mining company allegedly discharging pollutants from its waste rock piles into a river via groundwater seepage without a national pollutant dis...

South Bronx Coalition for Clean Air v. Conroy

The court dismisses environmental groups' motion to enjoin the sale of a former bus depot in the South Bronx, New York. The sale is part of a plan to develop a former rail yard adjacent to the depot. The plan provides for an intermodal freight terminal, a solid waste transfer station, a paper recycl...

Ross v. Federal Highway Admin.

The court affirms a district court decision enjoining further construction on a Kansas highway project until the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) completes a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for a segment of the project. The court first...