Kaahumanu v. Hawaii
The Ninth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of Hawaii's regulation of commercial weddings on the state's unencumbered beaches in all respects but one. A pastor and wedding planning companies filed suit against the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) alleging that its permit re...
National Ass'n of Regulatory Utility Commissioners v. United States Department of Energy
The D.C. Circuit held that the DOE Secretary's 2010 determination that there was no basis for suspending, or otherwise adjusting, annual fees collected from nuclear power plant owners and operators following the government's decision to discontinue its development of Yucca Mountain violated the Nucl...
Department of Environmental Quality v. Worth Township
The Michigan Supreme Court held that under the state's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), a municipality can be held responsible for, and required to prevent, a discharge of raw sewage that originates within its borders, even when the raw sewage is discharged by a privat...
Native Village of Point Hope v. Salazar
The Ninth Circuit dismissed environmental and Alaska Native groups' petitions challenging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM's) approval of an oil company's exploration plan to drill in the Beaufort Sea. BOEM's decision that the company's exploration plan complied with the Outer Conti...