The court holds that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which entered into two agreements with Canada regarding rights to excess water stored in reservoirs on the Columbia River system in Canada, did not violate the Northwest Power Act (NPA) or the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). T...

The court upholds the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) determination that litigation and settlement costs incurred by oil pipeline carriers in connection with the Exxon Valdez oil spill are "extraordinary expenses," and that the settlement agreement between the carriers and the state ...

The court holds that the Secretary of the Interior must continue to process a mining company's patent application for mining lode claims to determine whether it is exempt from a statutory moratorium on expenditure of funds for processing patent applications. On September 30, 1994, Congress enacted t...

The court denies a union's request to compel the U.S. Department of Labor to promulgate an emergency temporary standard to protect mine workers from exposure to respirable coal mine dust. The court first holds that the union failed to satisfy its burden of showing that an emergency temporary standar...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service's (the Service's) environmental impact statement (EIS) and record of decision (ROD) for a mining operation on and around Buckhorn Mountain in California did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), or Nati...

The court upholds the conviction of three individuals that organized a 20,000-person event in the Allegheny National Forest without obtaining a special permit in violation of U.S. Forest Service (the Service) regulations. The court first holds that the regulations are not unconstitutionally vague be...

The court affirms a district court holding that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) breached its fiduciary duties to Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust account beneficiaries and, therefore, must conduct an accurate accounting. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 returned to tribal ownership...

The court affirms the dismissal of a community association's motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the construction of a 4-lane, 77-mile highway around Nashville, Tennessee. Although the highway has been exclusively funded by the state, the association argued that the federal government failed...

The court enjoins the U.S. Forest Service from implementing all aspects of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which prohibits construction of roads on presently roadless areas in the national forests. The court first holds that the federal government has committed to amendments to its environmenta...

The court denies petitions to review the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) decisions to categorically exclude the closure of a Missouri city's airport from the National Environmental Policy Act's (NEPA's) environmental assessment (EA) requirement and to release the city's federal obligation ...