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Full-Text Articles in Law

Hawkes Co. V. United States Army Corps Of Engineers, Sarah M. Danno Apr 2017

Hawkes Co. V. United States Army Corps Of Engineers, Sarah M. Danno

Public Land & Resources Law Review

A peat mining company will not be required to obtain a permit under the Clean Water Act to discharge dredged and fill material into wetlands. The United States District Court for the District of Minnesota held that the United States Army Corps of Engineers fell short in its attempts to establish jurisdiction over the wetlands by twice failing to show a significant nexus existed between the wetlands and navigable waters. Further, the district court enjoined the Corps from asserting jurisdiction a third time because it would force the mining company through a “never ending loop” of administrative law.


City Of Longmont Colorado V. Colorado Oil & Gas Association, Arie R. Mielkus Sep 2016

City Of Longmont Colorado V. Colorado Oil & Gas Association, Arie R. Mielkus

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Colorado, the oil and gas industry's use of hydraulic fracturing, and municipalities’ attempts to restrict where the practice can be done, are at odds. Those in favor of hydraulic fracturing laud the economic benefits and natural gas’s ability to burn cleaner than coal, while those in opposition warn of potential adverse environmental impacts including the strain on water resources in the arid west. The City of Longmont was sued following its enactment of an amendment outlawing hydraulic fracturing within city limits. The City’s amendment was found to be preempted by state law, and thus could not remain in force. …


Wyoming V. United States Department Of Interior, Keatan J. Williams Dec 2015

Wyoming V. United States Department Of Interior, Keatan J. Williams

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In a scathing opinion, the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming granted a motion for preliminary injunction, effectively blocking the BLM’s new Fracking Rule from being implemented on federal and tribal lands in the United States. The court held not only was the BLM’s new rule likely arbitrary and capricious, but the department lacked the authority to regulate fracking. The opinion relied on the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Energy Policy Act to determine that Congress explicitly removed fracking from federal regulation. Pending an appeal, the new Fracking Rule will not be implemented.


Sierra Club V. United States Army Corps Of Engineers, 803 F.3d 31 (D.C. Cir. 2015), Ariel E. Overstreet-Adkins Nov 2015

Sierra Club V. United States Army Corps Of Engineers, 803 F.3d 31 (D.C. Cir. 2015), Ariel E. Overstreet-Adkins

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Despite the majority’s “needlessly circuitous” route, as described by concurring Judge Brown, Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stands as a limit of the application of NEPA to a private pipeline constructed largely on private land. While the main issue identified by the District of Columbia Circuit Court was the scope of environmental review required under NEPA, the court also addressed issues dealing with the ESA and the CWA relating to the construction and operation of a pipeline in the Midwest. The court held that under these circumstances, NEPA review was mandated only for those small stretches where …


Oneok, Inc. V. Learjet, Inc., Keatan J. Williams Aug 2015

Oneok, Inc. V. Learjet, Inc., Keatan J. Williams

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In an ongoing dispute, the Supreme Court has allowed retail natural gas purchasers to bring state law anti-trust claims against natural gas pipelines for price manipulation. While holding that the Natural Gas Act does not create field pre-emption over these claims, the opinion hinted that there might still be conflict pre-emption. Justice Scalia, in his dissent, argued forcefully that the majority had misapplied and misconstrued the applicable case law, which, he argued, clearly created field pre-emption.


High Country Conservation Advocates V. United States Forest Service, 52 F. Supp. 3d 1174 (D. Colo. 2014), Kathryn S. Ore Aug 2015

High Country Conservation Advocates V. United States Forest Service, 52 F. Supp. 3d 1174 (D. Colo. 2014), Kathryn S. Ore

Public Land & Resources Law Review

High Country Conservation Advocates v. United States Forest Service concerns the United States Forest Service’s and the Bureau of Land Management’s authorizations of on-the-ground mining exploration activities in the Sunset Roadless Area of western Colorado. The United States District Court for the District of Colorado’s holding has far-reaching consequences for federal agencies’ analysis and disclosure of impacts on the climate under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). In addition to bolstering the Plaintiffs’ recent successes at establishing legal standing to challenge federal agencies’ disclosures and analyses of impacts on the climate under NEPA, High Country is the first case to …


Shell Gulf Of Mexico, Inc. V. Center For Biological Diversity, Nick Vandenbos Apr 2015

Shell Gulf Of Mexico, Inc. V. Center For Biological Diversity, Nick Vandenbos

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In an attempt to stave off what it saw as impending litigation, Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. filed suit under the Declaratory Judgment Act against a range of environmental groups opposed to Shell’s oil exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas of Alaska’s Arctic Coast. Shell requested a declaratory judgment that its oil spill response plans, as approved by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, did not violate the Administrative Procedures Act. Although noting the novelty of Shell’s argument, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded the district court had erred in determining a justiciable …


Wildearth Guardians V. Jewell, 738 F.3d 298 (D.C. Cir. 2013), Ross Keogh Apr 2014

Wildearth Guardians V. Jewell, 738 F.3d 298 (D.C. Cir. 2013), Ross Keogh

Public Land & Resources Law Review

As part of a comprehensive strategy to keep coal “in the ground,” environmental plaintiffs challenged the BLM’s leasing of federally owned coal tracts in the Powder River Basin in 2010 on climate change grounds. WildEarth Guardians was the first suit to reach a federal circuit court, where the District of Columbia Circuit Court affirmed that the BLM’s environmental analysis of the climate change impacts of the leased coal was adequate under NEPA. Notably, in reversing the district court, the circuit court found that the plaintiffs had procedural standing.


Moerman V. Prairie Rose Resources, Inc., Carolyn A. Sime Oct 2013

Moerman V. Prairie Rose Resources, Inc., Carolyn A. Sime

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.