The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing environmental groups' claim that the U.S. Navy and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated NEPA, the ESA, and the APA in deciding to install and operate an undersea warfare training range in waters adjacent to the only kno...

The Ninth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, held that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) did not violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) or NEPA when it authorized Idaho, Oregon, and Washington to kill up to 85 California sea lions annually at the Bonneville Dam in order to prote...

The Third Circuit affirmed a lower court decision vacating a 2009 settlement agreement between the U.S. Forest Service and environmental groups that banned oil and gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest pending the completion of a multi-year, forestwide EIS under NEPA. The lower court had pre...

The Ninth Circuit upheld the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's 20-year plan to provide adequate and reliable energy at the lowest economic and environmental cost to the Northwest. The Council, established under the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act, is an inters...

A district court upheld critical habitat protections for the marbled murrelet, a small seabird found in the Pacific Northwest that nests in old-growth forests. FWS designated critical habitat for the tri-state population of marbled murrelets in 1996. In 2010, FWS determined that delisting the murrel...

The Federal Circuit held that the Minerals Management Service (MMS) breached its contract with a natural gas pipeline construction company involving the construction of two segments of a pipeline that extends from Wyoming to Ohio. Under a "precedent agreement," MMS would pay the company roughly $1.2...