The court holds that the Federal Highway Administration's (FHwA's) and a state transportation agency's decision not to complete a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) for a highway project in New Jersey was reasonable. Several years after a final EIS for the highway was completed, it wa...

The court holds that a district court erred in failing to abstain under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971), in a case challenging the constitutionality of an Oregon county's solid waste ordinance. A company charged with violating the ordinance sought declaratory and injunctive relief against enfo...

The court holds that a district court has jurisdiction under the Quiet Title Act (QTA) to review an Interior Board of Land Appeals' (IBLA's) decision that a Native American's claim for an allotment of land under the Native Allotment Act takes precedence over a state's earlier right-of-way grant in t...

The court holds that an environmental group's Department of Transportation Act §4(f) challenge to a proposed five-mile highway corridor in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is time barred. Although a statement made in the district court's opinion is a "new circumstance," it does not have anything to do with ...

The court holds that the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (HMTA) preempts a New York regulation that prohibits the repackaging of hazardous wastes. The court first holds that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has primary jurisdiction over the regulation and transportation of hazardou...

The court holds that an individual failed to exhaust his administrative remedies before suing the U.S. Forest Service for violating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) in connection with two timber cutting projects in the Allegheny National Fore...

The court reverses a district court's denial of environmental groups' motion for a preliminary injunction to limit grazing in certain allotments of the Owyhee Resource Area in Idaho. The district court held that the groups failed to show a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the ...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service did not violate the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) when it adopted a forest plan for the Prescott National Forest in Arizona that identified certain forest land as suitable for grazing. The court first holds that the claims alleged by the environme...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service did not breach a timber sale contract when, pursuant to two contract provisions, it canceled the contract to avoid jeopardizing the continued existence of the endangered northern spotted owl in the Six Rivers National Forest. The court first holds that th...

The court holds that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' denial of a property owner's permit application to dredge and fill wetlands on his property in the Florida keys was not a taking. The court first holds that the U.S. Supreme Court did not hold in Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S....