The court holds that a state law preempted a county ordinance that placed a six-month moratorium on the construction of all sludge storage facilities, and, consequently, a wastewater firm could build a sludge storage facility in the county under an approved state sludge utilization permit. The court...

The court affirms a district court dismissal of an environmental group's claim that the U.S. Forest Service violated regulations governing off-road vehicle (ORV) use in the Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon. The court first holds that the Forest Service's ORV monitoring did not violate 36 C.F.R. §...

The court affirms the U.S. Forest Service's approval of a special use permit that allows landowners with property surrounded by the Gunnison National Forest in Colorado to snowplow two miles of Forest Service road so that they can reach their residence by automobile in winter. The court first holds ...

The court holds that a state land use board erred when it failed to affirm a county's preliminary approval of a residential subdivision in an area containing wetlands and designated as a wildlife habitat. The board rejected the county's argument that the wetlands at issue were not subject to the cou...

The court holds that a mine company cannot argue that a partial taking occurred when a county adopted a land use plan that designated a tract of the company's land as a river corridor where no mining could occur. The court first holds that the record is unclear as to what burden of proof the trial c...

The court affirms a district court grant of summary judgment to the National Park Service on the grounds that the Park Service's deer management program in Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site does not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or the Nat...

The court reverses a district court decision that environmental groups failed to demonstrate injury-in-fact and, therefore, do not have standing to bring a citizen suit under the Clean Water Act against a nonferrous metal smelting facility for violations of its national pollutant discharge eliminati...

The court holds that a state zoning board failed to properly consider the historical significance of an area before granting a granite mining operation a conditional use permit, and, therefore, the permit is vacated. A Native American village challenged the board's grant of the permit. The court fir...

The court finds that a U.S. Forest Service letter enforcing a decision to close certain areas of Lolo National Forest to motorized use did not constitute final agency action subject to review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Forest Management Act. The Forest Servic...

The court holds that the equitable doctrine of laches bars a community group's Administrative Procedure Act and Clean Water Act (CWA) claims seeking to prevent the permitted filling of a wetland and, hence, to stop further development of a neighboring industrial park. After their attempt to stop the...