The Ninth Circuit held that animal rights organizations lacked standing to challenge a USDA notice stating that "there is no specific federal humane handling and slaughter statute for poultry." The lower court entered summary judgment in favor of the USDA, holding that while the plain meaning of the...

A California appellate court affirmed a lower court's decision not to interject itself into a city's still ongoing process of preparing an environmental impact report (EIR) for a proposed development project. The developer wanted the lower court to issue a writ of administrative mandamus to compel t...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision denying Native American tribes' motion to preliminarily enjoin BLM's approval of a large gold mining project on Mt. Tenabo, Nevada, which has religious significance for the tribes. The tribes failed to satisfy their burde...

A district court enjoined an energy company from building additional wind turbines at a wind farm project in West Virginia until it obtains an incidental take permit under the ESA for the Indiana bat, an endangered species. Indiana bats are present at the project site and the project is reasonably c...

A district court held that residents may go forward with their trespass claims against a liquor distillery that operates a coal-fired production facility near their homes, but dismissed their nuisance and negligence claims. The residents seek injunctive and monetary relief based on the presence of p...

A California appellate court reversed in part and affirmed in part a lower court decision denying a citizen group's petition to set aside an amendment to a county's general land use plan that altered the definition of "net acreage." Substantial evidence supports a finding that the amendment could ha...

The Third Circuit affirmed a lower court decision denying a mining company's motion to expand a preliminary injunction and enjoin asbestos claims against the state of Montana arising from the company's mining operations. The company filed for Chapter 11 under the Bankruptcy Code in 2001. The same da...

The California Supreme Court held that a county's decision not to renew a conditional use permit for a private airport is not a "project" subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Declining to renew the conditional use permit was not a public project unde...

A California appellate court affirmed the California Coastal Commission's denial of an individual's application for a coastal development permit for a residential and commercial project. The project, approved by the city, was located in an area zoned for commercial visitor-serving uses. Despite the ...

The Second Circuit denied a petition for review challenging the NRC's decision not to reverse its 1996 EIS finding that spent fuel pools at nuclear power plants do not create a significant environmental impact within the meaning of NEPA. Because the NRC has given due consideration to the relevant st...