The D.C. Circuit upheld the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission's finding that SeaWorld violated the OSH Act by exposing trainers to recognized hazards when working in close contact with killer whales during performances. The Commission's finding came after the death of one of SeaWorld'...

A district court dismissed environmental groups' claims that BLM violated NEPA when it approved a plan for developing a coal bed natural gas lease in an area of Wyoming's Powder River Basin as well as amendments to the applicable resource management plan for the area. The groups claimed that BLM aba...

A district court held that environmental groups' NEPA and FLPMA claims against BLM in connection with its decision to lease two coal tracts in Wyoming's Powder River Basin lack merit. The groups alleged that BLM violated the statutes because the agency failed to adequately consider the impacts on lo...

A district court, in a memorandum opinion, dismissed environmental groups' lawsuit against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for APA, NEPA, and ESA violations in connection with two lease sales in the area where the Deepwater Horizon spill ...

An Alaska court held that state law impliedly preempts a ballot initiative that would allow a local borough to prohibit the issuance of a permit for large-scale mines that would have a significant adverse impact on salmon-bearing waters. The court rejected the state's claim that the initiative, loca...

The Ninth Circuit held that BLM did not violate NEPA or FLPMA when it approved the expansion of a gold mine near Nevada's Mount Tenabo. Native American tribes claimed that BLM failed to address mitigation measures specific to groundwater in situ, failed to propose new mitigation measures relating to...