California v. Bernhardt
A district court vacated the Trump Administration's rescission of the Obama Administration's Waste Prevention Rule, which was enacted to reduce methane waste from oil and gas operations on public and tribal lands. California, New Mexico, and environmental groups argued the rescission violated the AP...
Helena Hunters and Anglers Ass'n v. Marten
A district court granted in part summary judgment for nonprofit groups in a suit concerning a logging project in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. One group argued the project violated the Roadless Rule because the Forest Service was surreptitiously planning to construct new roads in an in...
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
A district court vacated the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to grant an easement under the Mineral Leasing Act for the Dakota Access Pipeline, which runs from North Dakota to Illinois, after previously ruling that the Corps must prepare an EIS for the pipeline to comply with NEPA. The court found...
Board of County Commissioners of Boulder County v. Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed a district court ruling that remanded to state court a climate change lawsuit against oil companies for contributing to global warming-related damage in Colorado. Three local government entities argued before state court that they faced substantial and rising costs to prot...
Northern Alaska Environmental Center v. U.S. Department of the Interior
The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for BLM in a challenge to its 2017 offer and sale of oil and gas leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Environmental groups argued that BLM violated NEPA by failing to prepare an EA or EIS for the lease sale and failing to take a hard look at it...
American Wild Horse Campaign v. Bernhardt
The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for BLM in a challenge to the agency's "geld and release" plan for wild horses in northeastern Nevada. An animal rights group argued that BLM violated NEPA by failing to prepare an EIS for the plan because five of the Act's intensity factors demonstrated t...