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One for the Birds: The Corps of Engineers' "Migratory Bird Rule"

Does the use by migratory birds of isolated, intrastate waters establish enough of a connection to "navigable waters" and interstate commerce to permit federal regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the U.S. Commerce Clause? The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers thinks so, but courts and commentators have not been entirely sympathetic to the Corps' so-called migratory bird rule. The Fourth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thomas (in a dissent from denial of certiorari) have rejected such a broad jurisdictional reach in no uncertain terms.

Environmental Defense Fund v. Alexander

The court refuses to enjoin continued construction of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and rules that plaintiffs are barred by res judicata and collateral estoppel from challenging defendants for alleged violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Fish and Wildlife Coordination A...

Fund for Animals v. Espy

The court holds that a nonprofit organization has standing to seek a preliminary injunction to prevent the implementation of a research study by the Department of Agriculture (DOA) on the transmission of brucellosis from wild bison in Yellowstone National Park to cattle outside the park without DOA ...

New York, City of v. Mineta

The court holds that the Secretary of Transportation did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR21) in granting take-off and landing slots to airlines servicing New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia Airpo...

Clean Air Mkts. Group v. Pataki

The court holds that the New York Air Pollution Mitigation Law is preempted by the Clean Air Act (CAA) and violates the U.S. Commerce Clause. Under Air Pollution Mitigation Law §66-k, an electric generator is assessed an offset penalty when it sells a sulfur dioxide (SO2) allowance to a generator i...

Greater Yellowstone Coalition v. Bosworth

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Rescissions Act by reissuing a permit for livestock grazing in the Gallatin National Forest without first conducting a NEPA review. In 1994, the Forest Service implemented a po...

Hodges v. Abraham

The court holds that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in connection with its transfer of surplus plutonium from Colorado to South Carolina. DOE argued that the governor of South Carolina, who filed suit against DOE, lacked standing becaus...

Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Ctr. v. Bureau of Land Management

The Ninth Circuit held that the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) environmental assessments (EAs) for two timbers sales in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The EAs do not sufficiently identify or discuss the incremental impact that can be expec...

Ausable Manistee Action Council, Inc. v. Stump

The court holds that the U.S. Army, the Michigan Department of Military Affairs, and the National Guard Bureau (agencies), did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in deciding to construct a tank firing range at a National Guard training facility, and not to issue a supplemental ...

Hirt v. Richardson

The court holds that individuals' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) suit against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) seeking to enjoin the agency from shipping the nuclear material mixed oxide uranium (MOx), from the United States and Russia to Canada is moot. The individuals claimed that DOE...