Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. Caperton
A district court denied a motion to dismiss a challenge to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's failure to notify the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) of a significant change to the state's special reclamation fund. Environmental groups argued that t...
Earthworks v. U.S. Department of the Interior
A district court denied environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to two mining-related rules issued by BLM. The groups argued that the 2008 Mining Claim Rule violated the General Mining Law and FLPMA by improperly restricting the application of FLPMA's fair market-value manda...
Wyoming v. United States Department of the Interior
A district court struck down BLM's 2016 rule promulgating new regulations to reduce natural gas waste during oil and gas production activities on federal land and Indian leases. States argued that the rule exceeded BLM's statutory authority and was otherwise arbitrary and capricious. The court found...
Driftless Area Land Conservancy v. Huebsch
The Seventh Circuit reversed the denial of transmission companies' motion to intervene in a lawsuit challenging the Wisconsin Public Service Commission's approval of a $500 million electricity transmission line in southwestern Wisconsin. Environmental groups challenged the approval on constitutional...
Howard County v. Federal Aviation Administration
The Fourth Circuit dismissed a petition to vacate or set aside the FAA's modification to a series of flight routes that caused residents of historic areas of a county in Maryland to endure "insufferable levels of noise." The county argued that the FAA failed to comply with environmental statutes and...