Adkins v. Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liab. Fund
101 F.3d 86 (9th Cir. 1996)
The Ninth Circuit upheld the district court's determination that appellants were properly denied compensation from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liability Fund (the Fund) for business losses allegedly resulting from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The Fund, established in 1973 by... {Continue reading}

Association of California Water Agencies v. Evans
386 F.3d 879 (9th Cir. 2004)
Fishing and state water agency associations brought an action alleging that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA)[1] by not carrying out the proper economic impact analysis before designating certain lands as critical habitats. Settlement... {Continue reading}

Central Delta Water Agency v. United States
306 F.3d 938 (9th Cir. 2002)
At issue in this case was the operation of the New Melones Unit of the Central Valley Project (Project) by the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau). The Project "is the largest federal water management project in the United States,"[1] and is... {Continue reading}

General Atomics v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n
75 F.3d 536 (9th Cir. 1996)
General Atomics, the third-tier corporate parent of licensee Sequoyah Fuels Corporation, filed an action in district court, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). General Atomics alleged that the NRC acted in excess of its statutory... {Continue reading}

Idaho Watersheds Project v. Hahn
307 F.3d 815 (9th Cir. 2002)
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), individual ranchers, and Owyhee Resource Area Permittees (ORAP), a cattle rancher organization, appealed the district court's order of a permanent injunction requiring environmental review of sixty-eight grazing permits in accordance with the National Environmental... {Continue reading}

Ocean Conservancy, Inc. v. National Marine Fisheries Service
382 F.3d 1159 (9th Cir. 2004)
The Ocean Conservancy, in conjunction with several other environmental organizations (collectively Conservancy), brought suit to stop the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from conducting scientific research that would have resulted in the taking of endangered sea turtles, thereby violating the... {Continue reading}

Public Util. Comm'n of State of Cal. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm'n
100 F.3d 1451 (9th Cir. 1996)
On March 17, 1993, Mojave Pipeline, a natural gas company operating in California and Arizona, applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for certification to construct its proposed "Northward Expansion," which would extend their existing system 290 miles northward... {Continue reading}

Razore v. Tulalip Tribes of Washington
66 F.3d 236 (9th Cir. 1995)
Plaintiffs brought a citizen suit alleging the Tulalip Tribes violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA). The district court dismissed the plaintiffs' claims. The Ninth Circuit affirmed and held that the suit... {Continue reading}

Safe Air for Everyone v. Meyer
373 F.3d 1035 (9th Cir. 2004), petition for cert. filed, 60 U.S.L.W. 3475 (U.S. Feb. 2, 2005) (No. 04-1055)
Safe Air for Everyone (Safe Air) appealed a district court dismissal of its complaint against seventy-five individuals and corporations that grow Kentucky bluegrass in Idaho (Growers) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Safe Air sued under the citizen suit provision... {Continue reading}

Sierra Club v. United States EPA
118 F.3d 1324 (9th Cir. 1997)
The Ninth Circuit held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had no authority to promulgate a final rule which allowed importation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the United States for purposes of disposal, because the rule violated the Toxic Substances... {Continue reading}

Southwest Center for Biological Diversity v. Berg
268 F.3d 810 (9th Cir. 2001)
The Ninth Circuit ruled on a motion to intervene under Rule 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The applicants to intervene included a construction company and four national and local building trade associations (Applicants). They wished to join... {Continue reading}

Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
322 F.3d 1064 (9th Cir. 2003)
At issue in this case was an appeal by the Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council, 243 California plaintiffs, and 9 Nevada plaintiffs (Association) of a district court's dismissal of its case against the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA). Specifically, the Association's challenges... {Continue reading}

United States v. Carpenter
298 F.3d 1122 (9th Cir. 2002)
The Wilderness Society and Great Old Broads for Wilderness (collectively Wilderness Society) appealed from the district court's denial of their motion to intervene as of right on the side of the government in a lawsuit that the United States brought... {Continue reading}

United States v. Finlay
55 F.3d 1410 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 116 S. Ct. 193 (1995)
Defendant Gordon Finlay owned Finlay Testing Laboratories, Inc. (FTL), an industrial testing company operating out of Oahu, Hawaii that used portable devices emitting gamma radiation from a small pellet of nuclear material to create images of metal objects. The... {Continue reading}

United States v. V-1 Oil Co.
63 F.3d 909 (9th Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 116 S. Ct. 1824 (1996)
The United States sought to enjoin V-1 Oil, a liquefied propane gas retailer, from preventing unannounced inspections by Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) inspectors under the pervasively regulated industry exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment. Under this... {Continue reading}

Washington State Department of Transportation v. Washington Natural Gas Co.
59 F.3d 793 (9th Cir.), superseding 51 F.3d 1489 (9th Cir. 1995)
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) brought suit against Washington Natural Gas Company (WNG) and several other defendants to recover response costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The district court denied WSDOT its costs... {Continue reading}