The Eighth Circuit denied a petition for review of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order authorizing the reconstruction of the Taum Sauk Pumped Storage Project, a hydroelectric generating plant in the Missouri Ozarks. In 2005, the upper reservoir of the project collapsed, and the opera...

The Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision denying a motion to dismiss environmental groups' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) claim against the director of the South Carolina Department of Transportation concerning the construction of a bridge. The director argued that the claims aga...

The First Circuit denied a petition for review of the Federal Aviation Agency's (FAA's) decision to reroute aircraft approaching and departing Logan Airport in Boston. Peer-reviewed noise studies showed that the impact on noise levels would not be significant. Accordingly, the FAA did not err in fin...

The Fifth Circuit held that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) was not required to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) in conjunction with its establishment of a conservation easement on city land. After FWS prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for a proposed wildlife refuge i...

The Third Circuit held that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) need not examine the environmental impact of a hypothetical terrorist attack on a nuclear power facility during its review of an application to relicense that facility. New Jersey's environmental agency, in its petition for review o...

A district court denied environmental groups' motion to enjoin the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from authorizing and/or commencing any dredge and fill activities related to the construction of a byway project in Sandpoint, Idaho. The groups argued that the Corps improperly failed to consider and sel...

The Second Circuit denied a petition for review of an Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) order approving the relocation of the Panama City-Bay County International Airport to a new site in Florida. The FAA complied with the National Environmental Policy Act's procedural requirements in evaluating...

The Sixth Circuit dismissed a miner's petition for writ of mandamus directing the Secretary of Labor to promulgate lower limits for the mount of dust and silica allowed in the air in mines. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 authorizes the Secretary to promulgate mandatory air quality st...

The Tenth Circuit upheld a lower court decision denying a petition for review of the U.S. Forest Service's determination not to undertake an EA of certain elk feedgrounds located on federal lands in Wyoming. Each winter the state of Wyoming feeds approximately 13,000 elk at 22 designated feedgrounds...

A district court rejected claims that the U.S. Army violated NEPA by failing to provide a supplemental analysis reflecting new alternative destruction technologies that could be used in lieu of on-site incineration at four chemical weapon incineration facilities. For the four challenged sites, the A...