The D.C. Circuit denied citizen advocacy groups' claim that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Atomic Energy Act when it granted a license for a new, privately owned facility in New Mexico to produce enriched uranium as fuel for nuclear reactors....

The Fourth Circuit affirmed an award of attorney fees in a citizen suit brought under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act with respect to the preliminary injunction phase of the litigation, but reversed fees awarded for the supplemental claims phase. The supplemental phase included plaint...

A district court dismissed a lawsuit filed by Alaska native groups seeking to rescind certain oil and gas leases issued by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) in 2007. The MMS prepared an EIS in 2003 for lease sales that were to occur in 2003, 2005, and 2007. Because of the time lag between the 20...

The D.C. Circuit upheld the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI's) interpretation of "valid existing rights" in a 1999 rule to foreclose surface mining operations in sensitive areas. A mining association argued that Congress inserted "valid existing rights" in the Surface Mining Control and Recla...

The Fourth Circuit denied motions to dismiss North Carolina's common-law nuisance action against the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) alleging that its coal plants emit various pollutants that travel through the atmosphere into the state, thereby adversely impacting human health and environmental qu...

The Eighth Circuit held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it implemented certain revisions to the operational document for the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System without preparing a supplemental environmental impact statemen...

The D.C. Circuit denied a petition challenging a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order directing a pipeline operator that expanded its pipeline and added compressors to carry gas shipped by several new customers to allocate the added electricity costs only to the customers for whom the e...

The First Circuit denied Massachusetts' petition for review of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) order denying its request to participate directly in a re-licensing proceeding of two nuclear energy plants as a "party" before the agency issues its renewal decision. Massachusetts argued that it mu...

The D.C. Circuit held that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, or residents' due process rights in its treatment of a hydroelectric project operator that violated its licen...

The D.C. Circuit held that the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI's) approval of a proposed casino on Native American lands did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). An internal DOI document states that proposals for "large" and/or "potentially controversial" gaming establish...