A district court, on motions for summary judgment, held that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) complied with NEPA and other statutes when it approved a tribe's application for a proposed gaming facility and hotel fee-to-trust acquisition project in Yuma, California. BIA prepared an EIS for the prop...

The D.C. Circuit upheld the dismissal of an environmental group's NEPA and CWA claims against the U.S. government in connection with a 593-mile oil pipeline that runs from Illinois to Oklahoma on both public and private lands. Despite the group's claims to the contrary, the government was not requir...

A district court upheld Oregon's clean fuels program, which seeks to reduce lifecycle emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from transportation fuels by 10% over a 10-year period. Trade associations argued that the program was unconstitutional because it discriminates against out-of-state commerce. Bu...

The Ninth Circuit held that California's commercial fishing fees for nonresidents violates the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the U.S. Constitution. California's commercial fishing license fees are significantly higher for out-of-state fishers than for residents. For example, California residen...

A district court held that the U.S. Forest Service violated NEPA when it categorically excluded from environmental review a mining company's proposed mineral exploration plan in the Coronado National Forest. The Forest Service categorically excluded the project because it concluded that the project ...

The Ninth Circuit upheld the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA's) approval of a Native American tribe's plan to harvest 268 acres of timber in the Coquille Forest in southwest Oregon. An environmental group challenged the approval, arguing that BIA failed to adequately consider the cumulative environme...

The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service's continued authorization of a 6-foot-tall Jesus statue on national forest land overlooking a northwestern Montana ski resort does not violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The statue, known as "Big Mountain Jesus," was placed ...