BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A federal appeals court ruled that agencies including the Bureau of Land Management didn't break environmental laws when they approved expansion of an eastern Idaho phosphate mine, dealing a blow to groups fighting the project.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle this month upheld a lower court ruling that the agencies' approval of J.R. Simplot Co.'s expansion of its Smoky Canyon Mine into a roadless area of Caribou County complied with federal laws.
 

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