In a January 17, 2025 opinion in the cases of Montana Wildlife Federation et al. v. Deb Haaland et al. and Western Watersheds Project et al. v. Deb Haaland et al., the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit examined a number of oil and gas leases in Idaho and Montana sold during the prior Trump administration, vacating some and overturning vacatur of others. The opinion offers insight into how a court may look to analyze improper agency action in instances where significant economic expenditure has already taken place. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Agency Action, Citizens Suit, Exploration, Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Leases, Mineral Rights, NEPA, Ninth Circuit, Oil and Gas, Public Lands

In Marin Audubon Society v. Federal Aviation Administration, No. 23-1067 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 12, 2024), the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unexpectedly held that, despite nearly fifty years of precedent, the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) lacks the authority to promulgate binding regulations for the purpose of implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Agency Action, Council on Environmental Quality, D.C. Circuit, Loper Bright, NEPA

This entry was authored by MGKF Summer Associate Ryan Raynor

Next term, the United States Supreme Court will decide the extent to which federal agencies must consider environmental impacts beyond their control in performing environmental reviews. On June 24, 2024, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition and the Uinta Basin Railway, LLC to determine whether the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) requires a federal agency conducting an environmental impact statement (“EIS”) to study environmental impacts beyond the proximate effects of the action over which the agency has regulatory authority. Eagle Cnty., Colorado v. Surface Transportation Bd., 82 F.4th 1152, 1179 (D.C. Cir. 2023), cert. granted sub nom. Seven Cnty. Coalition v. Eagle Cnty., Co, 2024 WL 3089539 (U.S. June 24, 2024). Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Energy, FERC, Greenhouse Gas, Natural Gas, NEPA, Oil and Gas, Pipelines, Railroad, United States Supreme Court

The Eleventh Circuit recently addressed the standing requirements for a procedural-rights claim, in this case one arising from an agency’s alleged failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”).  In a split 2-1 decision in Center for a Sustainable Coast v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the court held that standing to challenge an agency’s alleged violation of NEPA does not require a showing that a procedural do-over would necessarily redress a substantive injury. No. 22-11079, 2024 WL 1918733 (11^th Cir. May 2, 2024). Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Administrative Procedures Act, NEPA, Permits, Standing

This post was authored by Alice Douglas, with contributions from Summer Associate Reilly Wright 

On July 5, 2023, the United States Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved the largest offshore wind energy project to date—known as Ocean Wind 1—which will entail the construction of up to 98 wind turbines and up to 3 offshore substations off the coast of New Jersey over the next two years.  Ocean Wind 1, financed by the Danish company Orsted, is the third offshore wind energy project to gain approval by the Biden administration, following the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts and the South Fork Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and New York, which are both currently under construction. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Administrative Procedures Act, Citizen Suit, Climate Change, Endangered Species Act, Energy, NEPA, Permits, Standing

Reversing the Fourth Circuit, the Supreme Court on Monday issued its opinion in United States Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Association, No. 18-1584 (June 15, 2020). In a 7-2 decision, Justice Thomas wrote for the majority that the Appalachian National Scenic Trail’s passage through United States National Forest land is best viewed as a grant of an easement to the National Park Service rather than a transfer of ownership of the underlying land. In doing so, the Court upheld the Forest Service’s right to permit a pipeline to run beneath the Trail under the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA). Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, Forest Service, Fourth Circuit, Interior, Mineral Leasing Act, National Forest Management Act, NEPA, Oil and Gas, Permits, Pipelines, Public Lands, Supreme Court, United States Supreme Court

The adage “you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube” has manifested itself in two recent federal court decisions. Under separate theories, both the Second Circuit and the District Court of the District of Columbia have issued decisions that highlight the difficulty environmental groups faced in challenging energy infrastructure projects that have been completed during the course of litigation. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Administrative Appeals, Administrative Procedures Act, Army Corps, Citizen Suit, D.C. Circuit, Energy, Marcellus Shale, NEPA, New York, NPDES, Oil and Gas, Pipelines, Second Circuit

Quoting a Dr. Seuss book, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Thursday issued its opinion in Cowpasture River Preservation Association v. United States Forest Service, No. 18-1144 (4^th Cir. Dec. 13, 2018). The Court held that the US Forest Service (the “Forest Service”) violated the National Forest Management Act (“NFMA”) and the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), as well as lacked statutory authority under the Mineral Leasing Act (“MLA”) to grant a pipeline right of way across the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (the “Appalachian Trail”), failing to “speak for the trees” as Seuss’s Lorax directs. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, Fourth Circuit, Mineral Leasing Act, National Forest Management Act, Natural Gas, NEPA, Pipelines

The Delaware River Basin Commission (“DRBC”) was created with the approval of Congress in 1961 through the Delaware River Basin Compact, an agreement between the New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the federal government for planning, conservation, utilization, development, management and control of the water resources of the Delaware River Basin (the “Basin”).  In June, 2010, the DRBC placed  a moratorium on natural gas development in the Basin, which includes areas within the Marcellus Shale formation, pending the adoption of regulations governing such development.  Draft regulations were published for comment in 2010, and revised draft regulations were published in November, 2011.  However, they have not yet been adopted by the DRBC, leaving the moratorium in place. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Cases to Watch, Decisions of Note, Drilling, Exploration, Marcellus Shale, NEPA, Oil and Gas, Standing