The Fourth Circuit held that the Federal Power Act (FPA) does not grant the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permitting jurisdiction when a state denies approval of a permit application within one year. Two state utilities commissions and two community interest organizations challenged se...

The Eighth Circuit upheld as moot a lower court decision denying a hunting club's motion to preliminarily enjoin a power company from constructing a 600-megawatt pulverized coal-fired power plant in Hempstead County, Arkansas, without first obtaining a prevention of significant deterioration permit ...

The D.C. Circuit held that a state agency lacked standing to challenge two Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders conditionally approving a company's application to site, construct, and operate a liquid natural gas terminal near the mouth of the Delaware River. FERC conditionally approve...

The D.C. Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing dairy farmers' action challenging the constitutionality of two amendments to the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act. The dairy farmers alleged that the amendments, which subjected certain large producer-handlers of milk to contribution re...

The D.C. Circuit denied a petition challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 's (FERC's) approval of the Electric Reliability Organization's (ERO's) method for allocating costs based on net energy for load. The ERO was created under §215 of the Federal Power Act to establish and enfo...

The Ninth Circuit held that an environmental group is not entitled to attorneys fees in their action challenging a USDA regulation that the agency withdrew while the case was pending. The group alleged that the USDA violated NEPA, the ESA, and the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) in promulgatin...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that a justice sitting on West Virginia's highest court should have recused himself from a case involving a coal company that contributed large sums of money toward the judge's election campaign. In that case, a jury found the company liable for fraudulent misrepresentati...

The Sixth Circuit dismissed a miner's petition for writ of mandamus directing the Secretary of Labor to promulgate lower limits for the mount of dust and silica allowed in the air in mines. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 authorizes the Secretary to promulgate mandatory air quality st...

A district court dismissed, without prejudice, environmental group's CAA lawsuit challenging an energy company's plans to expand one of its coal-fired power plants. Four of the five plaintiffs in this action are also petitioners in an action pending before the North Carolina Office of Administrative...

The Seventh Circuit held that an environmental group lacks standing in their action against several government agencies for allowing the discharge of bullets into Lake Michigan at a U.S.-operated gun range. The group alleged that the deterioration of the lead bullets in the water harmed the environm...