The D.C. Circuit upheld an Interior Board of Land Appeals decision refusing to reinstate four oil and gas leases off the California coast that were expired due to political considerations. In 1999, the Pacific Regional Director of the Minerals Management Service caused the leases, for which an energ...

A district court dismissed a mining industry association's action challenging DOI Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) regulations allocating the burden of proof in five types of administrative proceedings under SMCRA. The association argued that the regulations impermissibly shift the ultimate...

...

A district court vacated new safety requirements the DOI issued for oil and gas operators in the outer continental shelf. The requirements, issued in a notice to lessees, range from submitting certifications to performing additional safety procedures. The requirements were set aside because the gove...

The D.C. Circuit vacated an NRC decision in which it refused to consider the value of a company's "goodwill" in determining whether the company was exempt from certain financial requirements necessary for the decommissioning of a uranium processing plant. In 2007 and 2008, the NRC granted th...

The Ninth Circuit held that BLM and the U.S. Forest Service did not violate the CWA, NEPA, or the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) in approving a proposed mine expansion project in the Caribou National Forest. After evaluating the data, the agencies determined that remediation efforts w...

The Ninth Circuit held that BLM and the U.S. Forest Service did not violate the CWA, NEPA, or the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) in approving a proposed mine expansion project in the Caribou National Forest. After evaluating the data, the agencies determined that remediation efforts w...

The D.C. Circuit denied a Native American tribe's petition challenging FERC's decision declining to impose conditions on a utility's annual licenses for a hydroelectric plant in order to preserve the Klamath River's trout fishery. Contrary to the tribe’s argument, FERC quite plainly articulated an...

A district court held that FWS complied with NEPA when it approved the opening and expansion of sport hunting in 60 National Wildlife Refuges. Between 1997 and 2005, the FWS issued nine final rules creating or expanding recreational hunting opportunities on 60 wildlife refuges. In 2006, a court...

The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a citizen group's lawsuit seeking to compel BLM to prohibit off-road vehicle use in Oregon's Little Canyon Mountain area. BLM did not make a finding that the off-road vehicle use complained of by the group had caused "considerable adverse effects" that would...