A district court upheld DOI's renewal of two mineral leases that had previously been rejected for a copper-nickel mine in Superior National Forest. Businesses and environmental groups argued that DOI's authority to reconsider its decision to renew was limited to ministerial or inadvertent errors, an...

A district court dismissed constitutional challenges to Colorado's forced pooling statute, under which property owners were required to allow oil and gas companies to extract their minerals. A group of property owners argued the statute violated the First Amendment by requiring non-consenting owners...

In a partially published opinion, a state appellate court set aside Kern County's approval of an ordinance amendment proposed by oil and gas industry groups to streamline the permitting process for new oil and gas wells. Environmental groups, community groups, and a local farm argued that the enviro...

A state appellate court reversed the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' decisions to deny petitions for a contested-case hearing and issue mine and dam safety permits for a proposed copper-nickel-platinum mine in northeastern Minnesota. Environmental groups petitioned the Department for a he...

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The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's dismissal of an environmental group's request to compel DOI to reinstate the Refuges Rule, which prohibited Alaska's predator-control methods on national wildlife refuges as well as certain methods of hunting bears and wolves. The group argued that Congr...

The Fifth Circuit blocked a preliminary injunction issued by a district court that had barred the Trump Administration from using military funds to build portions of a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The district court had found that the Consolidated Appropriations Act expressly forbade th...

A district court denied a motion to dismiss a challenge to President Trump's issuance of a permit authorizing a pipeline company to construct a cross-border segment of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Environmental groups argued the permit's unilateral authorization of the pipeline conflicted with Cong...