A district court granted the state of Washington's motion for partial summary judgment on its claim that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) violated the Washington State Hazardous Waste Management Act (HWMA) when it decided to ship radioactive and hazardous mixed transuranic waste to the Hanford Nu...

A district court enjoined and vacated a final U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rule that reduced protection afforded to the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by changing its status from "endangered" to "threatened" in some regions. The FWS' interpretation of "significant portion o...

The Tenth Circuit dismissed intervenors' appeal of a district court order approving a settlement in a suit originally filed to halt a wilderness inventory to assess whether several million acres in Utah meet criteria for wilderness eligibility. On April 14, 2003, the district court granted the plain...

The First Circuit upheld the Secretary of the Interior's decision to take into trust a 31-acre parcel of land located in Charleston, Rhode Island, for the benefit of the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island. The Indian Reorganization Act authorized the Secretary to acquire the land in trust for...

The Sixth Circuit upheld the Surface Transportation Board's grant of a railroad company's request to operate an intermodal transportation facility on city property. Local governments argued that the company's proposal was a sham designed to prevent the surrounding cities from taking the property by ...

The D.C. Circuit held that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) properly modified the terms, set forth in earlier settlements, under which three natural gas shippers must ship gas over the lines of the El Paso Natural Gas Company. FERC did not err by converting the shippers' contracts fro...

The First Circuit dismissed a Native American tribe's suit to recover 34 square miles of land in Rhode Island they claim was wrongfully taken from their ancestors. The claim is barred by the Rhode Island Indian Claims Settlement Act. And although the United States does have a trust relationship with...

A California appellate court upheld a city's approval of a general plan framework that includes proposed operational and physical improvements to traffic systems and infrastructure, policies to encourage the use of public transit and reduce vehicle trips, and other measures to reduce traffic congest...

A California appellate court held that the partial obstruction of billboards caused by a city's planting of palm trees is not compensable under the California Constitution. The trial court erred in finding loss of visibility would not be compensable based on the fact that the loss was caused by a pu...

A Nevada court upheld a county decision denying a company's request for a special use permit to mine clay from two open pits on federal land north of Reno, Nevada, and to build a plant to produce cat litter on private land nearby. The Mining Law of 1872 and federal regulations don't exempt the proje...