North Carolina Wildlife Federation v. North Carolina Department of Transportation
A district court granted summary judgment for the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) in a challenge to FHwA's decision to allow the North Carolina Department of Transportation to construct a toll bridge across Currituck Sound near the Outer Banks. Environmental groups argued the decision relied o...
Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. Marten
A district court granted in part summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to FWS' and the Forest Service's decisions regarding a logging and prescribed burning project in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. The groups argued the Services violated the ESA by failing to reiniti...
Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice v. Federal Aviation Administration
The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, denied a petition for review challenging FAA's decision that found no significant environmental impact stemming from construction and operation of an air cargo facility at the San Bernardino International Airport. The state of California, environmental groups, a union, and in...
Environmental Deconfliction 2021: The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2021
As in prior years, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 contains a variety of provisions setting U.S. Department of Defense priorities for energy, environmental, and natural resource issues. These include measures that represent some degree of consensus on these often-politicized topics.
Mining Our Future Critical Minerals: Does Darkness Await Us?
We are told the transition to a zero-carbon economy will depend upon the United States’ ability to assure a sufficient supply of rare earths and minerals such as cobalt, nickel, or lithium. The Biden Administration is intent on promoting some new form of a critical mineral policy, and calls for reforming the 1872 Mining Law have persisted for well over one hundred years. This Article is designed to provoke a meaningful conversation about a critical minerals policy informed by our past.
Cascadia Wildlands v. Warnack
A district court granted environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin a logging project in the Willamette National Forest in areas affected by wildfires. The groups argued the Forest Service could not use the road repair and maintenance categorical exclusion (CE) to avoid NEPA review of the ...
Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. v. Pirzadeh
A district court granted EPA's motion to remand and vacate the Agency's 2019 decision to withdraw a proposed determination that would have restricted a copper and gold mine from using certain waters at disposal sites for dredged and fill material. The court found that neither retention of jurisdicti...