A district court denied EPA's motions to dismiss a lawsuit brought by two states and a Native American tribe seeking to recover response costs from the 2015 Gold King mine spill that sent millions of gallons of acid mine drainage into the Animas and San Juan Rivers. EPA argued that it retained sover...
The D.C. Circuit reversed a district court's decision upholding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' approval of a transmission line that would cross the historic James River. Conservation groups argued that the Corps should have prepared an EIS for the project because it would significantly impact his...
A magistrate judge ruled in favor of environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's (OSM's) approval of a coal mine expansion in southeastern Montana.The groups argued that OSM failed to take a "hard look" at impacts of ...
A district court granted in part and denied in part a pipeline company's motion to stay a previous order enjoining the company from continuing certain preconstruction activities on the Keystone XL oil pipeline until the State Department completed a supplemental EIS. The company sought to continue th...
In an unpublished opinion, the D.C. Circuit denied environmental groups' petitions to review FERC's issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity for construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The groups argued that FERC failed to adequately consider the climate change impacts of ...
A district court denied environmental groups' motion for summary judgment against BLM for lease sales in 2017. The groups argued that BLM failed to fully consider numerous and foreseeable environmental impacts of the leases as required under NEPA. But the court found that BLM's analysis in general t...
In an unpublished opinion, the D.C. Circuit dismissed a town's petition to review FERC's issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity under the Natural Gas Act authorizing upgrades to two natural gas pipelines. The town argued that the Commission violated the Act by approving a proj...