ENVIRONMENTAL LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2023) Hannah Berg In Williams Alaska Petroleum Inc. v. State, 529 P.3d 1160 (Alaska 2023), the supreme court held that sulfolane is a hazardous substance pursuant to Alaska Statute (AS) 46.03.826(5)(A) of the Environmental Conservation Act. (Id. at 1177). Williams Alaska Petroleum, Inc. and The Williams Companies, Inc. operated Continue Reading »
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit (2023) Catherine Cole In Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Fish & Wildlife Service, 67 F.4th 1027 (9th Cir. 2023), the Ninth Circuit decided a government entity’s designations of areas as either an occupied critical habitat or as an unoccupied critical habitat were arbitrary and Continue Reading »
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW; ENVIRONMENTAL LAW United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit (2023) Katie Raya In In re Clean Water Act Rulemaking, 60 F.4th 583 (9th Cir. 2023), the 9th Circuit held that courts may not vacate agency actions in conjunction with granting requests for voluntary remands without first holding the agency action unlawful. (Id. at Continue Reading »
ENVIRONMENTAL LAWUnited States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (2022)Kristiana OlsonIn Safari Club International v. Haaland, 31 F.4th 1157 (9th Cir. 2022), the court held that theAlaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) preserves the federal government’sauthority over Alaska’s public lands. (Id. at 1165). In 2013, Alaska expanded access to brown bearhunting. (Id. at 1166). The Continue Reading »
ENVIRONMENTAL LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Sam MacDuffieIn United States v. Alaska, 608 F. Supp. 3d 802 (D. Alaska 2022), the court granted the UnitedStates’ motion for preliminary injunction of an Alaskan state order allowing any Alaskan to gillnetfish in the Kuskokwim River. (Id. at 814). The federal Alaska National Interest LandsConservation Act Continue Reading »
ENVIRONMENTAL LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Joseph PerryIn Alaska Wildlife Alliance v. Haaland, 2022 WL 17422412 (D. Alaska 2022), the district courtheld unlawful a National Park Service (NPS) rule permitting certain hunting practices on NationalPreserve land in Alaska on the grounds that it was an arbitrary and capricious abuse of NPS’spower. (Id. at Continue Reading »
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2022) Anighya H.D. Crocker In Cook Inlet Fisherman’s Fund v. Department of Fish and Game, 514 P.3d 1259 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that (1) the Alaska Statehood Act did not impose specific ongoing federal requirements on fishery management in state waters, (Id. at 1255–56), and (2) Alaska Continue Reading »
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW Megan Mason Dister In French v. Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, 498 P.3d 1026 (Alaska 2021), the supreme court held that the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) has jurisdiction over determining if a gas leak is waste and the AOGCC’s hearings must be supported by substantial evidence. (Id. at 1028). Continue Reading »
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW Megan Mason Dister In PLC, LLC v. State, Department of Natural Resources, 484 P.3d 572 (Alaska 2021), the supreme court held that a company that held an overriding royalty interest (ORRI) in a state oil and gas lease had standing to challenge a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) decision on the unit operator’s Continue Reading »
