The court dismisses a mining association's action challenging U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) regulations concerning the use of a computerized database programmed to identify links between surface mining permit violators and applicants, individuals, and corporations. The association argued tha...

The Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court order enjoining the future planting of disputed genetically engineered alfalfa seed pending the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's completion of an enivironmental impact statement. The district court applied the traditional balancing test, and no...

A district court denied motions for summary judgment on states' claims that an electric utility modified one of its coal-fired power plants in violation of the prevention of signnificant deterioration (PSD) permitting requirements set forth in Clean Air Act §165(a). The court held that the rout...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that the U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard) did not violate appellants' First Amendment rights or the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it established safety zones insulating a private "super ferry" in Hawaii from blockade by local protesters...

A district court held that the Clean Air Act (CAA) does not preempt a local air district rule that requires developers to reduce nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions from their projects or to pay a fee to offset such emissions. The rule is not a standard subject to CAA §209. It neith...

The Eighth Circuit denied a petition for review of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order authorizing the reconstruction of the Taum Sauk Pumped Storage Project, a hydroelectric generating plant in the Missouri Ozarks. In 2005, the upper reservoir of the project collapsed, and the opera...

The Seventh Circuit upheld a lower court order enjoining a power company from building a coal-fired power plant without first obtaining a new prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permit from the state of Illinois. The state's environmental agency granted the company a PSD permit in 2001. Th...

The Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision denying a motion to dismiss environmental groups' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) claim against the director of the South Carolina Department of Transportation concerning the construction of a bridge. The director argued that the claims aga...

The First Circuit denied a petition for review of the Federal Aviation Agency's (FAA's) decision to reroute aircraft approaching and departing Logan Airport in Boston. Peer-reviewed noise studies showed that the impact on noise levels would not be significant. Accordingly, the FAA did not err in fin...

A district court dismissed a county's lawsuit against a railroad company for allowing its locomotive engines to idle in violation of state air pollution law. This case involves railcars, the fumes they emit, and the tracks they use. Accordingly, its falls under the umbrella of federal regulatory aut...