Cal. Wilderness Coal. v. Dumps

Decision Date01 February 2011
Docket Number08–72835.,08–72644,08–71845,08–71829,08–72717,08–71884,Nos. 08–71074,08–71823,08–71870,08–71831,08–72423,08–71908,08–71872,s. 08–71074
Citation631 F.3d 1072
PartiesCALIFORNIA WILDERNESS COALITION; Natural Resources Defense Council; The Wilderness Society, Inc., Petitioners,andDesert Protection Society; Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice; Backcountry Against Dumps; Desert Protective Council; Morongo Basin Conservation Association; Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy; Donna Charpied; Laurence Charpied; San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, Intervenors,v.U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, Respondent,Allegheny Energy, Inc.; American Public Power Association; Edison Electric Institute; Monongahela Power Company; National Rural Electric Cooperative Association; PJM Interconnection; Path Allegheny Transmission Company, LLC; Path West Virginia Transmission Company, LLC; San Diego Gas & Electric Company; Southern California Edison Company; The Potomac Edison Company; Trans–Allegheny Interstate Line Company; West Penn Power Company, Intervenors–Respondents–Intervenors.Commonwealth of Virginia; Robert F. McDonnell, Governor; Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, Attorney General, Petitioners,andDesert Protection Society; Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice; Backcountry Against Dumps; Desert Protective Council; Morongo Basin Conservation Association; Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy; Donna Charpied; Laurence Charpied; San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, Intervenors,v.U.S. Department of Energy and Samuel Bodman, Secretary of Energy, Respondents,Allegheny Energy, Inc., DBA Allegheny Power; Monongahela Power Company, DBA Allegheny Power; Path Allegheny Transmission Company, LLC; Path West Virginia Transmission Company, LLC; Potomac Edison Power Company, DBA Allegheny Power; Trans–Allegheny Interstate Line Company; West Penn Power Company, dba Allegheny Power, Edison Electric Institute; American Public Power Association; National Rural Electric Cooperative Association; San Diego Gas & Electric Company; Southern California Edison Company, Respondents–Intervenors.Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (“PAPUC”), Petitioner,andDesert Protection Society; Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice; Backcountry Against Dumps; Desert Protective Council; Morongo Basin Conservation Association; Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy; Donna Charpied; Laurence Charpied; San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, Intervenors,v.U.S. Department of Energy and Samuel W. Bodman, Respondents.State of New York, Petitioner,andDesert Protection Society; Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice; Backcountry Against Dumps; Desert Protective Council; Morongo Basin Conservation Association; Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy; Donna Charpied; Laurence Charpied; San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, Intervenors,v.U.S. Department of Energy and Samuel W. Bodman, Respondents.Piedmont Environmental Council; National Trust for Historic Preservation; National Parks Conservation Association; Civil War Preservation Trust; Pennsylvania Land Trust Association; The County of Fauquier, Virginia, Petitioners,andDesert Protection Society; Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice; Backcountry Against Dumps; Desert Protective Council; Morongo Basin Conservation Association; Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy; Donna Charpied; Laurence Charpied; San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, Intervenors,v.U.S. Department of Energy and Samuel W. Bodman, Respondents.Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Department of Environmental Protection, Petitioners,andDesert Protection Society; Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice; Backcountry Against Dumps; Desert Protective Council; Morongo Basin Conservation Association; Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy; Donna Charpied; Laurence Charpied; San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, Intervenors,v.U.S. Department of Energy, Respondent.Public Utilities Commission of the State of California, Petitioner,Public Service Commission of the State of New York, Petitioner–Intervenor,andDesert Protection Society; Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice; Backcountry Against Dumps; Desert Protective Council; Morongo Basin Conservation Association; Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy; Donna Charpied; Laurence Charpied; San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, Intervenors,v.U.S. Department of Energy and Samuel W. Bodman, Respondents,Southern California Edison Company, Respondent–Intervenor.Imperial Irrigation District, Petitioner,andDesert Protection Society; Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice; Backcountry Against Dumps; Desert Protective Council; Morongo Basin Conservation Association; Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy; Donna Charpied; Laurence Charpied; San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, Intervenors,v.U.S. Department of Energy and Samuel W. Bodman, Respondents,andSouthern California Edison Company.Arizona Corporation Commission, Petitioner,andPublic Service Commission of the State of New York, Desert Protection Society; Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice; Backcountry Against Dumps; Desert Protective Council; Morongo Basin Conservation Association; Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy; Donna Charpied; Laurence Charpied; San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, Intervenors,v.U.S. Department of Energy and Samuel W. Bodman, Respondents,andSouthern California Edison Company.Communities Against Regional Interconnect, Petitioner,v.U.S. Department of Energy, Respondent.People of the State of New York and Public Service Commission of the State of New York, Petitioners,v.U.S. Department of Energy and Samuel Bodman, Secretary of Energy, Respondents.New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Petitioner,v.U.S. Department of Energy, Respondent,Southern California Edison Company; Edison Electric Institute; American Public Power Association; National Rural Electric Cooperative Association; Monongahela Power Company; The Potomac Edison Company; West Penn Power Company; Trans–Allegheny Interstate Line Company; Allegheny Energy, Inc.; Path Allegheny Transmission Company, LLC; Path West Virginia Transmission Company, LLC; San Diego Gas & Electric Company, Respondents–Intervenors.Toll Brothers, Inc., Petitioner,v.U.S. Department of Energy, Respondent.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Anjali I. Jaiswal and Johanna H. Wald, Natural Resources Defense Council, San Francisco, CA, Stephan C. Volker and Joshua Harris, Oakland, CA, Caleb A. Jaffe, Southern Environmental Law Center, Charlottesville, VA, William A. Anderson II, Williams Mullen, James B. Dougherty (argued), Elizabeth S. Merritt, Deputy General Counsel, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Andrea C. Ferster, Washington, D.C., for Petitioners The Wilderness Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, California Wilderness Coalition, Piedmont Environmental Council, National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Parks Conservation Association, Civil War Preservation Trust, Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, Fauquier County, Virginia, and Toll Brothers Inc., and Intervenors Desert Protection Society, et al.James P. Melia and Steven K. Bainbridge, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Scott R. Perry, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection, Harrisburg, PA, Maureen Riley Matsen, C. Meade Browder and D. Mathias Roussy, Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, Richmond, VA, Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General of the State of New York and Maureen F. Leary (argued), Office of the Attorney General Environmental Protection Bureau, Jonathan Feinberg, Solicitor, Public Services Commission of the State of New York, Albany, NY, Anne Milgram, Attorney General of New Jersey and Kenneth Sheehan, Deputy Attorney General, New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Newark, NJ, for Petitioners Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Governor Edward G. Rendell and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, State of New York, Public Service Commission of the State of New York, and Commonwealth of Virginia.Jonathan D. Feinberg, State of New York Department of Public Service, Office of General Counsel, Andrew M. Cuomo, New York State Attorney General, Maureen F. Leary (argued), Assistant Attorney General and Denise A. Hartman, Assistant Solicitor General, Albany, NY, James P. Melia, John Levine and Steven Bainbridge, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Scott Perry, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Harrisburg, PA, Janet Wagner and Nancy Scott, Arizona Corporation Commission, Legal Division, Phoenix, AZ, Anne Milgram, New Jersey State Attorney General and Kenneth J. Sheehan, Deputy Attorney General, Department of Law & Public Safety, Newark, NJ, Maureen Riley Matsen, D. Mathias Roussy, and C. Meade Browder, Office of the Attorney General, Richmond, VA, Laurence G. Chaset (argued), California Public Utilities Commission Legal Division, San Francisco, CA, for Petitioners Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Governor Edward G. Rendell and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, State of New York, Public Service Commission of the State of New York, Commonwealth of Virginia, Public Utilities Commission of the State of California, Arizona Corporation Commission.Harvey Y. Morris and Laurence G. Chaset (argued), Legal Division, California Public Utilities, San Francisco, CA, Deborah A. Swanstrom and Erika D. Benson, Patton Boggs, LLP, Washington, D.C., Stephen J. Keene, Imperial Irrigation District, Imperial, CA, Janet Wagner and Nancy Scott, Arizona Corporation Commission, Phoenix, AZ, for Petitioners Public Utilities Commission of the State of California, Imperial Irrigation District, Arizona Corporation Commiss...

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