A district court held that the U.S. Forest Service's EIS addressing the land management plans for four national forests in southern California was issued in violation of NEPA and the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). The court rejected many of the plaintiffs' challenges. Nevertheless, the Fores...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision denying Native American tribes' motion to preliminarily enjoin BLM's approval of a large gold mining project on Mt. Tenabo, Nevada, which has religious significance for the tribes. The tribes failed to satisfy their burde...

A district court enjoined an energy company from building additional wind turbines at a wind farm project in West Virginia until it obtains an incidental take permit under the ESA for the Indiana bat, an endangered species. Indiana bats are present at the project site and the project is reasonably c...

The Second Circuit denied a petition for review challenging the NRC's decision not to reverse its 1996 EIS finding that spent fuel pools at nuclear power plants do not create a significant environmental impact within the meaning of NEPA. Because the NRC has given due consideration to the relevant st...

A district court granted environmental groups’ motion for summary judgment finding that the NMFS and the FWS (collectively, the Services) acted arbitrarily and capriciously in failing to consider a mining company’s preexisting reclamation obligations as part of their environmental baseline analy...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a corporate officer’s conviction under RCRA relating to the illegal storage of hazardous waste. The officer argued that the United States could charge and obtain a conviction against the corporation or him, but not both. The court disagreed. Both the corporation and ...

A district court denied environmental groups’ motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the use of genetically engineered sugar beets. On the likelihood of success on the merits, the court has already found that defendants, the USDA and its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, viola...

The Ninth Circuit upheld the FWS' designation of critical habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl. A cattle growers' association argued that the FWS unlawfully designated areas containing no owls as "occupied" habitat. But the FWS' interpretation of the word "occupied" in the ESA was permissible. The FW...

A district court held that the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA's) supplemental environmental assessment (EA) and revised finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for a proposed casino on Native American land held in trust by the United States complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)...

A district court held that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) improperly segmented its analysis of a petroleum pipeline construction project in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The BLM erroneously determined that the pipeline segment had independent utility from another proposed ...