A district court invalidated two U.S. Forest Service regulations exempting from public notice, comment, and administrative appeal requirements land and resource management plan decisions that are categorically excluded from NEPA review. The regulations violate the Forest Service Decisionmaking and A...
The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation took the requisite "hard look" under NEPA in its analysis of a proposed incremental drawdown of water from Lake Roosevelt in Washington state. Although a portion of the EA exclusively devoted to cumulative effects is conclusory and unenl...
A district court upheld the OSM's approval of amendments to West Virginia's federally approved SMCRA program that pertain to cumulative hydrologic impact assessments. The amendments delete the program's definition of “cumulative impact” and add a definition for “material damage to the ...
The Tenth Circuit dismissed petitions challenging National Park Service (NPS) rules governing snowmobile use in the Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. Petitioners, which included Wyoming, snowmobile associations, and a county, ...
The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service did not violate NEPA when it allowed a ski resort operator to make artificial snow with reclaimed water. The lower court erred in holding that the suit was barred by laches. Although the plaintiffs lacked diligence in pursuing their claims, a l...
The Ninth Circuit held that DOE's environmental assessment of a prospective "biosafety level-3" facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory complied with NEPA. DOE took the requisite "hard look" at the threat of a direct terrorist attack at the facility. DOE also reasonably exercised ...
The Fourth Circuit dismissed environmental groups' NEPA claim against the Federal Highway Administration and the Virginia Department of Transportation concerning improvements to a highway. The groups claimed that the agencies are attempting to foreclose consideration of environmentally friendly ...