Inside EPA is reporting that Potomac Riverkeeper and the United States Navy are discussing a settlement of the NGO's lawsuit alleging that the Navy's firing of munitions into the Potomac River without a NPDES permit violates...more
Notwithstanding the increasing size and severity of wildfires over the past decade, certain plaintiff groups have sought to constrain the government’s response to wildfires. Brownstein was honored to have the opportunity to...more
This week, the Court addresses the bounds of the discretionary function exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). ...more
Lawmakers from both parties, in both houses of Congress, have proposed bills intended to speed up forest-management projects that reduce wildfire fuels, like brush and small trees, which can cause large-scale fires of the...more
Please join Nossaman Environment & Land Use Partner Linda Larson of the Firm’s Seattle office and Nossaman Water Practice Group Associate Willis Hon for "Handling the Heat: The Evolving Nature of Washington's Wildfires," a...more
Consuming the forest in a red blaze just about a mile north of downtown Flagstaff, the Museum Fire Wildfire had many Arizonans on edge, especially fire management officials. Flagstaff is a popular destination year-round, and...more
The U.S. Forest Service deployed a drone for its maiden mission to manage a forest fire in Flagstaff, Arizona earlier this week. The lightning-caused Maroon Fire has been burning for several weeks in the Coconino National...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) addressed in a November 29th Opinion National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) challenges to post-fire projects...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (“9th Circuit”) addressed issues associated with two United States Forest Service (“Forest Service”) fire salvage and restoration projects. See Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. Mary...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Court”) addressed in a June 8th opinion whether a community protection line (“CPL”) constructed during a wildfire is exempted from the requirement to prepare a...more
The $1.3 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, which was signed into law on March 23, 2018, (the Act) includes bipartisan measures to fundamentally change how the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies pay...more
In 2012, the Mill Fire burned almost 30,000 acres in California, destroying large areas of forest, including threatened Northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) habitat. Even after the Mill Fire was finally snuffed...more
On September 20, 2012, the Ninth Circuit rejected a challenge mounted under both NFMA and NEPA to the validity of the Angora Fire Restoration Project. See Earth Island Institute v. U.S. Forest Service, No. 11-16718, slip op....more