The Ninth Circuit held that a Canadian corporation that markets and distributes electric power in the United States is a "foreign state" within the meaning of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 and, therefore, is entitled to a federal bench trial in a case alleging it had "manipulated the ...

A district court issued a preliminary injunction limiting the amount of cattle grazing allowed on conservation reserve program (CRP) lands. In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began a critical feed use haying and grazing program on CRP lands to deal with rising feed prices. But in so d...

A district court held that neither a coalition of agricultural water users nor a recreational water user has standing to challenge the state's striped bass fishing regulations under the Endangered Species Act. The plaintiffs argued that the regulations cause the unlawful take of species listed under...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing a nonprofit corporation's action against a railroad company for contribution under Washington's Model Toxics Control Act. The lower court held that the corporation lacked standing because it was obligated to pay any money it recovered to a...

The court holds that a U.S. Forest Service timber sale on the George Washington National Forest in Virginia was not arbitrary and capricious and did not violate the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) or the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as alleged by a neighboring landowner. The court ...

The court holds that a consent judgment under which the United States acquired title to Horn Island in the Gulf of Mexico is null and void. Plaintiff-appellants had contracted to sell a portion of the island to the United States, which sought it as part of a proposed national park. The United States...

The court holds that claims, asserting violations of various environmental statutes, the common-law nuisance doctrine, and the Fifth Amendment's takings clause, based on landowners' allegations that a proposed business park's stormwater management system will not prevent petroleum-based pollutants f...

The court holds that a U.S. Forest Service proposal for a logging project and road extension in the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), but not the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). The court first holds that neither the district cour...

The court holds that a district court has subject matter jurisdiction to determine whether a city, in light of its post-settlement actions, is estopped from refusing to approve a waste management company's construction of buildings on the south side of landfill property. A settlement agreement betwe...

The court holds that a U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) rule concerning natural resource damage (NRD) assessments under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) does not violate the Administrative Procedure Act or CERCLA. The rule, challenged by a manuf...