The court holds that under the Clean Air Act (CAA), federal entities cannot remove to federal court state and local government actions to enforce air quality laws. A California air quality management district brought a suit against the United States in state court seeking civil penalties for a U.S. ...

The court holds that property owners and residents failed to satisfy Endangered Species Act (ESA) §11 notice requirements in their suit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) concerning an emergency housing project's alleged taking of endangered and threatened turtle species, but th...

The court holds that various federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in their preparations of biological assessments (BAs), biological opinions (BOs), and environmental impact statements (EIS) with respect to the survival of the Son...

A district court held that the FWS violated NEPA, but not the ESA, when it issued a special rule that specifies the protective mechanisms that apply to the polar bear as a result of its threatened status. In May 2008, the FWS listed the polar bear as threatened under the ESA. The Service then issued...

The Tenth Circuit, in a 120-page opinion, reversed a lower court decision setting aside and permanently enjoining the U.S. Forest Service's Roadless Area Conservation Rule. In setting aside the rule, the lower court held that the Service violated the Wilderness Act of 1964 and NEPA. But the Wilderne...

The court holds that a Louisiana statute allowing direct appeal of decisions of the state Department of Environmental Quality to the state court of appeal, bypassing the state district courts, is unconstitutional, and the public rights doctrine has no application under the Louisiana Constitution. Th...

The court holds that the district court erred in holding that environmental groups lack standing in their Federal Water Pollution Control Act citizen suit challenging the Department of Energy's (DOE's) proposed reopening of a nuclear reactor at the Savannah River site in South Carolina. The reactor ...

The court holds that a computer circuit manufacturer is entitled to reimbursement under its comprehensive general liability insurance policy of expenses incurred pursuant to a government consent decree requiring it to clean up toxic waste contamination at a former manufacturing facility. The court f...

The court holds en banc that the arbitrary and capricious standard of review applies to agency decisions not to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act. The court overrules its prior decisions holding that a reasonableness standard of review should...

The court holds that nonprofit organizations interested in protecting and preserving the waters of Ascension Parish, Louisiana, do not have standing to sue. The court finds that the organizations did not allege specific facts showing a direct injury to any of their members sufficient to confer stand...