ELR Citation: 56 ELR 20075
No(s). 23-3343 (SLS) (D.D.C. May 29, 2026) (Sooknanan, J.)

A district court granted summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to FWS' 2020 biological opinion (BiOp) that found an OSM mining regulatory program was unlikely to jeopardize the continued existence of threatened species. The groups argued the BiOp violated the ESA and was facially invalid, and that even if the BiOp were not deficient, FWS failed to comply with its express requirements. The court found the BiOp and accompanying incidental take statement (ITS) violated the ESA because they did not set a clear and enforceable incidental take limit, and that the BiOp itself was invalid because it did not include a robust effects analysis and relied on a technical assistance coordination process that was less protective than §7 consultation. It granted summary judgment for the groups, denied FWS' cross-motion, and vacated and set aside the BiOp and ITS as applied to OSM's oversight of primacy states.