The Tenth Circuit held that landowners lacked standing to challenge two wind energy projects in Wyoming. FERC certified the projects under the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act, which seeks to promote renewable energy sources by requiring utilities to buy power from small facilities that meet...

The Ninth Circuit held that environmental groups lacked standing to compel the Washington State Department of Ecology and other regional agencies to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the state's five oil refineries under the CAA. The groups claimed that the agencies failed to define emission li...

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing environmental groups' claim that the U.S. Navy and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated NEPA, the ESA, and the APA in deciding to install and operate an undersea warfare training range in waters adjacent to the only kno...

The Ninth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, held that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) did not violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) or NEPA when it authorized Idaho, Oregon, and Washington to kill up to 85 California sea lions annually at the Bonneville Dam in order to prote...

The Third Circuit affirmed a lower court decision vacating a 2009 settlement agreement between the U.S. Forest Service and environmental groups that banned oil and gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest pending the completion of a multi-year, forestwide EIS under NEPA. The lower court had pre...

A district court upheld critical habitat protections for the marbled murrelet, a small seabird found in the Pacific Northwest that nests in old-growth forests. FWS designated critical habitat for the tri-state population of marbled murrelets in 1996. In 2010, FWS determined that delisting the murrel...