Regulating Shipping of Carbon Dioxide for Sequestration
A number of facilities intended for permanent sequestration of carbon dioxide are being developed in the United States. Several will be located on or near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, making them easily accessible to ships. Meanwhile, in Europe there is substantial interest in capturing carbon dioxide from industrial operations, but currently inadequate sequestration facilities, and growing interest in shipping carbon dioxide for sequestration in the United States. This Article reviews the main U.S.
Powder River Basin Resource Council v. U.S. Dep't of Interior
A district court granted in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to BLM's approval of an oil and gas project in Wyoming. The groups argued BLM violated NEPA, the APA, FLPMA, and the Mineral Leasing Act in approving the project and in approving hundred of applications...
Friends of the Floridas v. United States Bureau of Land Management
A district court largely upheld BLM's approval of a proposed dolomite mining project near the Florida Mountains in New Mexico. Environmental groups challenged the approval, arguing BLM violated NEPA by failing to adequately consider adverse effects on water, air, wildlife, a wilderness study area, a...
Hualapai Indian Tribe v. Haaland
A district court granted an Indian tribe's motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in a challenge to BLM's approval of a lithium mine exploration project in Arizona. The tribe argued BLM violated the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) when it found that no historical properties were af...
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation v. Shea
A district court granted summary judgment for conservation groups in a challenge to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS') recent update to a program concerning the use of pesticides to suppress grasshopper and cricket outbreaks. The groups argued APHIS' 2019 EIS and five state-le...
Port Isabel v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part challenges to FERC orders reauthorizing two liquefied natural gas export terminals in Texas and a pipeline that would carry natural gas to one of them. The city of Port Isabel and an environmental group argued FERC failed to comply with NEPA and Na...
Wilderness Society v. U.S. Department of Interior
A district court enjoined BLM from approving new applications for a permit to drill or authorizing new surface disturbance on lease parcels in conservation groups' challenge to the Bureau's decision to auction roughly 120,000 acres of public land in Wyoming for oil and gas development. The court pre...
New Jersey Conservation Foundation v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The D.C. Circuit vacated FERC's approval of an expansion project for a natural gas pipeline that runs through New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Environmental groups petitioned to review the approval, arguing FERC arbitrarily overlooked significant environmental consequences...