News & Analysis In the Courts
Volume 54 Issue 7
The D.C. Circuit denied environmental groups' petition to review FERC's certification of an interstate natural gas pipeline expansion project. The groups argued FERC violated NEPA by failing to consider the full scope of the project's environmental effects because the EIS did not include four other ...
The First Circuit affirmed summary judgment for NMFS in a challenge to the Service's issuance of an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) for construction of a wind power project off the coast of Massachusetts. A part-time Martha's Vineyard resident argued NMFS' determination that the IHA, which...
The First Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and NMFS in a challenge to BOEM's approval for construction of a wind power project off the coast of Massachusetts. A group of Nantucket residents argued NMFS violated the ESA by issuing a deficient biologic...
The Fifth Circuit rejected an environmental group's challenge to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's (LDEQ's) decision to issue preconstruction permits for a liquefied natural gas export facility in Cameron Parish. The group sought to have LDEQ's decision vacated, arguing the facilit...
The Ninth Circuit granted the Biden Administration's mandamus petition to dismiss an ongoing climate change lawsuit brought by 21 young people. Plaintiffs initially argued that the U.S. government, by failing to adequately respond to the threat of climate change, violated a "right to a stable climat...
The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part a district court's preliminary injunction limiting wolf trapping and snaring in certain parts of Montana to January 1, 2024, through February 15, 2024. Nonprofit groups argued Montana's laws authorizing recreational wolf and coyote trapping and ...
A district court granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for a conservation group in a challenge to NMFS' management of the Pacific sardine under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) and NEPA. The group argued NMFS' plan to rebuild the sardine population after it was declared overfished in 201...
A district court denied the Biden Administration's motion to stay an ongoing climate change lawsuit brought by 21 young people. The U.S. government argued the suit must be stayed because there was a substantial likelihood the Ninth Circuit would grant its petition for mandamus. The court found the g...