ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CASES

• Nkihtaqmikon v. Impson
• St. John's United Church of Christ v. City of Chicago
• N. Cheyenne Tribe v. Norton

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, September 14, 2007
Nkihtaqmikon v. Impson, No. 06-2733
In a challenge to a lease of tribal land to a developer in order to construct a liquefied natural gas terminal on the land, dismissal of the suit is reversed and remanded where, on the basis of the reversal of position by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, plaintiffs have standing to pursue their environmental and Leasing Act claims, those claims are ripe for review and plaintiffs did not fail to exhaust their administrative remedies. Read more...

U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, September 13, 2007
St. John's United Church of Christ v. City of Chicago, No. 05-4418
In a challenge to renovation plans for Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, denial of a church's motion for a preliminary restraining order preventing the relocation of a cemetery is affirmed where: 1) a statute enabling the relocation was facially neutral in regards to religious practices; 2) there is no evidence in support of the claim of a specific targeting of religious institutions or practices; 3) plaintiff's equal protection claim failed; and 4) eminent domain does not constitute a "land use" regulation subject to the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. Read more...

U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, September 11, 2007
N. Cheyenne Tribe v. Norton, No. 05-35408
In a suit involving multiple challenges to an injunction limiting, but not entirely prohibiting, coal bed methane development while the Bureau of Land Management expands an environmental impact statement, the injunction is upheld where the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing the partial injunction proposed by BLM because it provided an equitable resolution consistent with the purposes of NEPA. Read more...