ELR Citation: 54 ELR 20162
No(s). 21-cv-05695-JD (N.D. Cal. Dec 2, 2024) (Donato, J.)

A district court granted in part nonprofit and public interest groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS') 2020 rule concerning regulation of genetically engineered (GE) organisms. The groups argued the rule effectively abandoned federal government regulation of GE organisms and sought to have it set aside for failing to heed procedural requirements under the ESA and NEPA, failing to implement directives in the 2008 Farm Bill, and violating the Plant Protection Act (PPA). The court found that it was arbitrary and capricious for APHIS to not incorporate its noxious weed authority in the rule and to implement conventional breeding exemptions, and granted summary judgment on the groups' PPA claim. It vacated the rule and remanded to APHIS for reconsideration.