The Federal Claims Court held that the U.S. government need not indemnify developers for remediation costs they incurred complying with state agency orders concerning property formerly used as a military base. The developers' insurance company sought reimbursement from the government under the ...

A district court, in an underlying NEPA suit, denied the Navy's request for a voluntary remand for further consideration of the future location of a firing range complex in Guam. Plaintiffs argued that a voluntary remand to the agency is only appropriate where either there have been intervening...

The Ninth Circuit held that a reserve program for raisins authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 does not constitute a taking in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The USDA imposed civil penalties against two raisin farmers for failing to comply with various requirements...

The Fifth Circuit vacated portions of EPA's 2008 concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) rule. The rule requires CAFOs that propose to discharge to apply for an NPDES permit. But there must be an actual discharge into navigable waters to trigger the CWA's requirements. EPA, therefore,...

The D.C. Circuit upheld the Surface Transportation Board's imposition of environmental mitigation conditions in its approval of a "minor" railroad merger. The case involved the acquisition of a small "non-Class I" railroad by a larger "Class I" railroad company. Because the acquisition invol...

A district court set aside a U.S. Forest Service rule exempting the Tongass National Forest—the nation's largest—from the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The court ruled that the exemption was arbitrary and capricious because the Forest Service failed to provide a rational basis for temporarily...

A district court ordered the Bureau of Ocean Exploration Management, Regulation, and Enforcement to act on five pending deepwater drilling permit applications within 30 days. The permit applicant met all the necessary requirements for a preliminary injunction. The Outer Continental Shelf Lan...

The Ninth Circuit, in a case concerning the NRC's approval of a proposed interim spent fuel storage installation at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, held that the NRC's refusal to grant a nonprofit group access to sensitive information in a closed adjudicatory hearing was not arbitrary, capric...