A district court granted in part and denied in part an environmental group's motion for summary judgment in a CWA citizen suit concerning the Forest Service's discharge of aerially deployed fire retardant into navigable waters of the United States without an NPDES permit. The group argued the Servic...

The Tenth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part dismissal of a challenge to the Forest Service's approval of grazing permits in Bridger-Teton National Forest that authorized the "lethal take" of grizzly bears. Environmental groups challenged the approval, arguing FWS violated the ESA because...

The D.C. Circuit granted in part environmental groups' petitions to review FERC orders allowing the Mountain Valley Pipeline project to proceed. The groups argued FERC erred by allowing construction to resume before the pipeline owner reacquired all its other permits, that constructing segments of t...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the CWA extends to only those "wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are 'waters of the United States' in their own right," such that they are indistinguishable from those waters, in a challenge to an EPA compliance order stating that landowner...

A district court denied summary judgment for a group of landowners in a challenge to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM's) and NMFS' decisions approving an offshore wind energy project off the coast of Nantucket. The group argued that NMFS violated the ESA by failing to adequately conside...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed vacatur of FWS' designation of an area in the northern Santa Rita Mountains as occupied critical habitat for jaguar. An environmental group initially sued FWS, challenging the Service's conclusion that a proposed copper mine project in the area would not destroy or adverse...

The Ninth Circuit vacated two district court rulings in challenges to the Forest Service's approval of a logging project in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. An environmental group sued the Forest Service in two separate suits, arguing it violated the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) and NEP...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed in part and denied in part environmental groups' petition to review FERC's approval of a liquefied natural gas project in Alaska. The groups argued the approval violated NEPA and the Natural Gas Act. The court found that FERC considered and reasonably rejected no-action al...

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment for the Forest Service in a challenge to its authorization of cattle grazing on allotments in Tonto National Forest. A group representing property owners in the area challenged the authorization on NEPA and National Forest Manage...

The Sixth Circuit granted the Commonwealth of Kentucky's and business groups' motions to preliminarily enjoin EPA's and the Army Corps of Engineers' 2023 rule revising the definition of "waters of the United States" under the CWA. A district court had denied the motions, concluding plaintiffs lacked...