Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. Petrick
The Ninth Circuit vacated two district court rulings in challenges to the Forest Service's approval of a logging project in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. An environmental group sued the Forest Service in two separate suits, arguing it violated the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) and NEP...
Center for Biological Diversity v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The D.C. Circuit dismissed in part and denied in part environmental groups' petition to review FERC's approval of a liquefied natural gas project in Alaska. The groups argued the approval violated NEPA and the Natural Gas Act. The court found that FERC considered and reasonably rejected no-action al...
Neighbors of the Mogollon Rim, Inc. v. United States Forest Service
In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment for the Forest Service in a challenge to its authorization of cattle grazing on allotments in Tonto National Forest. A group representing property owners in the area challenged the authorization on NEPA and National Forest Manage...
National Pork Producers Council v. Ross
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a splintered 5-4 decision, affirmed dismissal of a constitutional challenge to a California law that forbids in-state sale of pork meat from breeding pigs that are "confined in a cruel manner." Out-of-state pork producers challenged the law on dormant Commerce Clause groun...
Cascadia Wildlands v. Adcock
A magistrate judge recommended that BLM's motion to dismiss be denied in a challenge to its proposed logging project in northwest Oregon. Environmental groups argued BLM's landscape plan for the project violated NEPA by failing to establish baseline environmental conditions, failing to consider sign...
Friends of the Earth v. Haaland
The D.C. Circuit dismissed for mootness a challenge to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM's) 2021 oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental groups argued the sale violated NEPA. The district court had concluded BOEM failed to properly follow NEPA procedures, and vacated ...
Bonin v. Sabine River Authority
The Fifth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed a district court ruling that denied the Sabine River Authority (SRA)-Louisiana's motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning its release of water from a reservoir on the Sabine River between Texas and Louisiana. Property owners in both states argued that SRA-Louisiana and...
Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management
A district court denied environmental groups' motions to preliminarily enjoin construction on an oil project in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve. One of the groups argued BLM violated NEPA and the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act (NPRPA) by failing to consider a reasonable range of alterna...