Story here. Normally, an appeal is heard by a three-judge panel; from that the loser can appeal to the entire court, en banc. En banc hearings are restricted by rule (requiring a split between panels or other special grounds).
In this case, a panel had struck down Maryland’s permit requirements, and the court voted to take that en banc. While it was at it, it voted to take two more appeals en banc, even though the panels hadn’t yet ruled. I’ve never seen that done before.