The court affirms a district court's grant of summary judgment to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on environmental groups' request for civil penalties and on its claim as to violations of the Clean Air Act's (CAA's) 20% opacity limitation occurring before May 20, 1999, but it reversed summary j...

The court holds that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers complied with the National Environmental Policy Act in connection with its plan to preserve an aquifer in the Grand Prairie Region in East Central Arkansas, a major rice producing area. The plan includes the construction of a system that would pu...

The court reverses the dismissal of an individual's complaint against his employer under the Clean Air Act's (CAA's) whistleblower provision. The U.S. Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB) dismissed the complaint reasoning that the individual did not engage in a protected activity ...

The court upholds the U.S. Forest Service's decision allowing the salvage of dead and/or dying trees on up to 250 acres to proceed without the preparation of an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment. The methodology the Forest Service used in promulgating the categorical exclusi...

The court holds that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by categorically refusing to consider the environmental effects of a potential terrorist attack in connection with its approval of a proposed spent fuel storage installation. The NRC ar...

The court denies a petition for review challenging the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary's decision to grant a license for a liquefied natural gas facility in the Gulf of Mexico. The DOT's environmental impact statement for the project complies with the National Environmental Policy ...

The court upholds an Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) permit allowing a coal company to mine roughly 1,100 acres in the Cumberland River watershed of northeastern Tennessee. An environmental group argues that the environmental assessment is deficient in failing to consider ...

The court holds that the final environmental impact statement (EIS) the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) prepared in connection with its plan to offer long-term oil and gas leases in a portion of Alaska complies with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. Environmentali...

The court holds that the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) cumulative impact analyses prepared in conjunction with two gold mining permits it issued to a mining company violates the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). BLM prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS) for each permit. The fi...

The court holds that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took the requisite "hard look" at the environmental and economic impacts of a project that would deepen the Columbia River's navigation channel from 40 feet to 43 feet and add new sites for the disposal of dredged materials. The court concludes t...