The court holds that an environmental organization whose members use a lake located 18 miles and three tributaries downstream from an oil refinery lack standing to bring a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen suit for discharge and reporting violations. The court holds that no genuine...

The court holds that individuals' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) suit against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) seeking to enjoin the agency from shipping the nuclear material mixed oxide uranium (MOx), from the United States and Russia to Canada is moot. The individuals claimed that DOE...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that environmental groups lack standing to challenge U.S. Forest Service regulations exempting certain land management activities from the agency's review process absent a live dispute over the concrete application of those regulations. The regulations exempt small fire-r...

The Ninth Circuit dismissed as unripe property owner's CERCLA and RCRA claims against the former owners for the costs of removing lead and other pollutants deposited on the land, which had been used as a shooting range. The owner's asserted cleanup costs are speculative and were calculated without r...

The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded a lower court decision dismissing a neighborhood association's APA action seeking to compel EPA's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) to act on their complaint that a city failed to properly use EPA funds to address lingering environmental problems in low-income and ...

The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court decision dismissing a Philippine island's action claiming that an American company polluted its waters. According to the complaint, Placer Dome severely polluted the lands and waters of Marinduque for some 30 years, caused two cataclysmic envi...

The Court of Federal Claims held that a livestock operator was collaterally estopped from litigating the issue of ownership to a right-of-way, thereby defeating its takings claim against the BLM for dismantling a water diversion structure on federal land and preventing the operator's access to the s...

A district court dismissed an Eskimo village's nuisance claim against 24 oil, energy, and utility companies for their alleged contribution to climate change. The village claimed that the companies are responsible for a substantial portion of the greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to clim...

The Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing Mississippi residents' class action lawsuit against several energy, fossil fuel, and chemical companies for their alleged contribution to climate change. The residents argued that the companies intentionally and unreasonably used their pro...

The Sixth Circuit held that a group of residents lacked standing to challenge the TVA's implementation of a land management plan for a nearby reservoir under NEPA and the Tennessee Valley Authority Act. The residents failed to connect the procedural harm alleged in their complaint—the creation of ...