The court holds that a Florida county's Endangered Species Act (ESA) §10 incidental take permit does not authorize it to take protected sea turtles through purely mitigatory measures associated with artificial beachfront lighting. The court first holds that the county lacks the U.S. Fish and Wildli...

The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have the authority to impose its own separate enforcement penalties on a Missouri corporation after the corporation and an authorized state agency negotiated a state court-approved settlement for Resource Conservation and R...

The court holds that bankruptcy discharges a state environmental agency's environmental liability claims against an oil company believed to be the successor to the owner of an abandoned oil site where hazardous substances had been released. The court first holds that the state agency's environmental...

The court holds that an individual who suffered aesthetic injuries while observing captive animals living under inhumane conditions at a zoo has standing to challenge U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations as violating the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The court first holds that the individua...

The court holds that a canning company may seek cleanup and abatement costs from the former owner of its canning operation site under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The court first holds that the canning company's post-filing cleanup costs are not clearly barred by RCRA. Although...

The court denies petitions to review a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that conditionally allows foreign gasoline refiners to establish and use individual baselines reflecting their 1990 gasoline fuel property levels, instead of statutory baselines, under the antidumping provision of...

The court holds that the Secretary of the Interior violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to designate critical habitat for the silvery minnow. The Secretary claimed that he could not complete the minnow's critical habitat designation due to fiscal limitations imposed by Congress. The ...

The court denies a state's motion to stay a decision that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) improperly decided that the evolutionary significant unit of coho salmon did not warrant listing as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The court first holds that the state...

The court holds unripe for review the Interior Board of Land Appeals' (IBLA's) ruling that the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) lacks jurisdiction to order a mining company to reduce acid mine drainage seeping from a mining operation in West Virginia. The IBLA ruled that th...

The court denied a petition to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) approval of a revision to Missouri's state implementation plan (SIP) that replaced four area-specific fugitive dust regulations with one, consistent statewide rule. The court first holds that the state environme...