A West Virginia court overturned a city's ordinance banning the hydraulic fracturing of Marcellus shale. The city, characterizing the hydraulic fracturing process as a nuisance, argued that it has the authority to enact and enforce the ordinance pursuant to the rights given to the city by the "Home ...

A district court denied an energy company's motion to dismiss residents' tort law claims against it for damages stemming from its operation of natural gas compression stations. The residents alleged that the compressor stations cause harmful levels of noise pollution and emit large amounts of methan...

The Ninth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, reversed a lower court decision granting summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Forest Service in a case challenging its approval of four timber logging projects in the Tongass National Forest. The Forest Service failed to adequately explain it decisi...

A district court vacated two internal DOI guidance documents that address and limit the use of §390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which establishes a "rebuttable presumption" that a categorical exclusion from review under NEPA would apply to certain oil and gas development activities on federal...

The Fourth Circuit denied a petition challenging a DOE rule setting forth energy conservation standards for small electric motors. The motors covered by the rule are electric induction motors ranging in power output from 0.25 to 3 horsepower. In promulgating the rule, the DOE invoked its authori...

A district court held that environmental groups lacked standing to challenge contracts a Department of Defense agency entered into to purchase fuel derived from Canadian oil sands recovered crude oil (COSRC). The groups argued that the contracts violated the Energy Independence and Security Act ...

The Tenth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service may charge visitors to Mt. Evans an "amenity fee" under the Recreation Enhancement Act (REA). Plaintiffs, outdoor enthusiasts, argued that the fee exceeds the Service's statutory authority under the REA. But to prevail in a facial challenge to an a...

The Ninth Circuit held that environmental groups may intervene in a citizen suit against the U.S. Forest Service concerning restricted motorized and mechanized vehicle use in a section of the Gallatin National Forest. In the underlying action, the citizens group argued that the Forest Service's plan...