Friends and foes of fracking in California have, for the most part, fought their battles in the policy and legislative arenas. But the federal district court in San Jose recently chimed in, striking down four oil and gas leases issued by the Bureau of Land Management for 2,700 acres of federal lands overlying the Monterey… Continue Reading
Category Archives: NEPA
Subscribe to NEPA RSS FeedSupreme Court Agrees To Review Ninth Circuit NEPA Decision
Posted in NEPAOn March 18, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the case of United States Forest Service v. Pacific Rivers Council, in which the Ninth Circuit overturned an Environmental Impact Statement for a 2004 amendment to a programmatic framework governing a series of logging plans for national forest lands in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The… Continue Reading
Federal Agency May Adopt Project that Combines Elements from Several Alternatives Studied in an Environmental Impact Statement
Posted in NEPAIn approving a project to repair a flood-damaged road in a national forest in Nevada, the U.S. Forest Service adopted a “Selected Alternative” that combined elements from three different alternatives that were evaluated in the Environmental Impact Statement for the project. In upholding the Forest Service’s approval, the Ninth Circuit rejected the project opponents’ claims… Continue Reading
CEQ Issues Handbooks on Coordinating NEPA Review with Review Under CEQA and Review Under the Historic Preservation Act
Posted in CEQA, Environmental Regulation, NEPAOn March 5, 2013, the Council on Environmental Quality released a handbook intended to help agencies and practitioners coordinate environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act with overlapping review requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act. It also released a separate handbook on coordination of review under NEPA and the National Historic Preservation Act. Neither handbook makes new… Continue Reading
New Forest Service Roadless Rule Upheld
Posted in Environmental Regulation, NEPAThe Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected environmentalists’ challenges to a new “roadless rule” governing federal lands in Idaho. In Jayne v. Sherman, the court found the U.S. Forest Service followed an inclusive, thorough, and transparent process and that its approval of the new rule did not violate the Endangered Species Act or NEPA…. Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Emphasizes Deference to Federal Agencies under NEPA
Posted in NEPAIn two recent cases involving challenges to U.S. Forest Service projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Ninth Circuit emphasized that courts must accord substantial deference to the environmental analysis conducted by federal agencies. Earth Island Institute v. U.S. Forest Service (9th Cir. Sept. 20, 2012), and Native Ecosystems Council v. Weldon (9th Cir…. Continue Reading
Annual Operating Plans for Dam Operation Do Not Require Environmental Reviews
Posted in NEPAThe U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is required by federal law to prepare Annual Operating Plans for the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona. But, the Ninth Circuit ruled, it is not required to conduct an environmental review each time is prepares such a Plan. Grand Canyon Trust v. U.S. Bureau of… Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Upholds Fish & Wildlife Service Regulations Against Environmentalists’ Challenge
Posted in Endangered Species, Environmental Regulation, NEPAThe Chukchi Sea off the North Slope of Alaska is a promising place for oil and gas development. But it’s also home to polar bears and walruses. This clash of interests led to a lawsuit by two environmental groups against the Fish & Wildlife Service, decided by the Ninth Circuit in the Service’s – and… Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Upholds Analysis of Narrow Range of Alternatives in EIS
Posted in NEPAAn alternatives analysis under NEPA may be valid even though only two very similar alternatives to the project are considered. In League of Wilderness Defenders-Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v. United States Forest Service, the Ninth Circuit upheld an Environmental Impact Statement for an experimental forest thinning project in Oregon. The court rejected the claim that… Continue Reading
EIS Must Evaluate Impacts As Soon As It Is “Reasonably Possible” To Do So
Posted in NEPAIn Pacific Rivers Council v. United States Forest Service, the Ninth Circuit struck down an Environmental Impact Statement prepared for a logging plan in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The court ruled that the EIS did not adequately evaluate the project’s impacts on fish species. In 2001, the Forest Service prepared a Final EIS, which contained… Continue Reading
To Consult or Not To Consult – That Is the Question for the Ninth Circuit
Posted in Endangered Species, Environmental Regulation, NEPAThe Ninth Circuit is at center stage again in the debate over the interpretation and enforcement of federal environmental laws. In a sharply divided 7-4 en banc decision, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the U.S. Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by allowing recreational gold mining activities in the Klamath National Forest in… Continue Reading