The court holds that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which entered into two agreements with Canada regarding rights to excess water stored in reservoirs on the Columbia River system in Canada, did not violate the Northwest Power Act (NPA) or the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). T...

The court upholds the U.S. government's imposition, under the Energy Policy Act of 1992, of a special assessment on domestic utilities to help fund the cleanup of governmental facilities that provided uranium enrichment services to the assessed utilities. The court first holds that the provisions of...

The court holds that landowners presented a prima facie case of trespass and nuisance against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for exceeding the scope of a wetlands easement over their property when FWS constructed a series of dikes that caused flooding. The court first holds that there was ...

The court holds that a Minnesota waste management statute that requires public entities to comply with county waste management plans does not violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution by barring the importation of waste processing services. Minnesota statute §115A.46 requires public enti...

The court holds that a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) defendant is not entitled to access to materials from an earlier grand jury proceeding conducted by the judge presiding over the CERCLA trial. The court first holds that defendant does not need the ...

The court holds that a former petrochemical plant employee failed to prove that the plant terminated him in retaliation for his disclosure of an environmental violation to his supervisor and, therefore, is not entitled to compensation under Louisiana's environmental whistleblower statute. The court ...

The court upholds the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) determination that litigation and settlement costs incurred by oil pipeline carriers in connection with the Exxon Valdez oil spill are "extraordinary expenses," and that the settlement agreement between the carriers and the state ...

The court affirms a district court decision that clauses excluding pollution from comprehensive general liability (CGL) insurance policies relieve defendant-appellee insurer of its duty to defend and reimburse plaintiff-appellant insured for its liability arising from oil contamination of soil and g...

The court vacates district court sanctions that called for the suspension of three attorneys and the payment of $1 million to a halfway house, but affirms a $120,000 sanction for counsel fees and costs, which were imposed against a law firm and its client, an oil company, for discovery violations in...

The court holds that a uranium mining company must exhaust its jurisdiction-based appeals in the Navajo tribal court system before challenging in federal court the Navajo court's jurisdiction over nuclear torts. The court first holds that the Price-Anderson Act's jurisdictional provisions do not cre...