The court vacates and remands a trial court holding that increased stormwater drainage from the construction of a U.S. Postal Service facility in West Virginia did not constitute a taking of a neighboring mall owner's property. The trial court held that no taking occurred because the owner failed to...

The court reverses and remands a district court's approval of a final environmental impact statement (EIS) that failed to discuss and respond to seven scientific studies casting doubt on the U.S. Forest Service's conclusion that northern goshawks are habitat generalists. In response to the Forest Se...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) did not violate NEPA, relevant CEQ regulations, or the CAA when it failed to evaluate the environmental impact of increased cross-border operations of Mexican motor carriers in its EA because any environmental i...

The Sixth Circuit held that a district court improperly failed to vacate or modify an injunction that prevented the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) from revisiting its decision regarding a highway extension. An environmental group sued to enjoin construction, stating that the project required ...

The D.C. Circuit held that FERC complied with NEPA in approving a company's application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct a pipeline extension through Southwest Virginia and North Carolina. FERC's process for ventilating and analyzing potential environmental impacts ...

A California appellate court upheld the dismissal of a landowner's inverse condemnation claim against California in which it sought to avoid the effect of an irrevocable offer to dedicate land for public use. The dedication was made by a prior owner of the land in 1983 as a condition of a permit to ...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision to find a possible equal protection violation when a state water quality control board's overzealous regulation of a ski resort's water discharges may have been motivated by personal animus, but affirmed the decision on all remaining claims. When the...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision concerning challenges to a plan to redirect water from the Sacramento River Basin back to the Trinity River in order to revive its chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead trout populations. Contrary to the lower court'...

The Federal Circuit reversed a lower court decision that a commercial fishing company suffered a taking when its fishing permits were revoked under 1997 and 1998 Appropriations Acts. The Appropriations Acts cancelled the company's existing permits and authorization letter and prevented any further p...

The Third Circuit upheld a district court decision that a state wildlife and game commission's refusal to exempt a Native American, who owns black bears for religious purposes, from a permit fee violates the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause. The permitting scheme is subject to strict scrutiny....