Natural Resources

A district court held that trade associations and nonprofit corporations representing members of the timber industry lack standing to challenge the Forest Service's 2012 planning rule…

A district court upheld a U.S. Forest Service decision allowing a uranium mine to renew operations near the Grand Canyon National Park. In January 2012, DOI withdrew approximately 633,547 acres of…

A district court upheld the U.S. Forest Service's approval of the Big Thorne Project in the Tongass National Forest, thereby allowing the logging of approximately 6,186 acres of old growth…

A district court held that BLM violated NEPA and the APA when it authorized a logging project in an area of Douglas County, Oregon, that provides habitat for the northern spotted owl. In its EA…

The California Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that a developer's proposal to demolish an existing home and build a 10,000 square-foot single-family home on the lot may not be…

A district court held that TVA did not violate NEPA when it decided to replace two coal-fired power generators with a natural gas-fueled power generating plant. TVA was replacing the generators to…

A California appellate court ordered the dismissal of an environmental group's California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit against a city in connection with emergency storm drain…

A district court held that environmental groups may go forward with their ESA lawsuit challenging OSM's issuance of SMCRA permits for two surface coal mines. The groups alleged that OSM…

The Fourth Circuit held that a Virginia facility that stores and blends coal for a nearby power plant is subject to the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA's) jurisdiction…

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision denying environmental groups' request for attorneys fees after they successfully challenged OSM's grant of a coal mining permit revision…