The D.C. Circuit affirmed summary judgment for FWS in a lawsuit concerning its denial of a nonprofit group's permit applications to export four blue iguanas to a Danish zoo and to continue a captive-bred wildlife program at its Arizona facility. A district court saw no problem with FWS' denials and ...

The D.C. Circuit vacated EPA's authorization of the pesticide aldicarb for use on oranges and grapefruit in Florida. EPA had moved to remand without vacatur. The court found the Agency itself acknowledged it did not make an effects determination as required by §7(a)(2) of the ESA, and that it admit...

In an unpublished opinion, the D.C. Circuit affirmed dismissal of a challenge to FWS' failure to provide notice and comment on its guidelines for creating species status assessments. An environmental group had argued that FWS violated the ESA by failing to put the guidelines through notice and comme...

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a settlement of environmental liabilities must resolve a CERCLA-specific liability to give rise to a contribution action under §113(f)(3)(B), in a lawsuit concerning a landfill in Guam formerly owned by the U.S. Navy. After entering into a consent decree...

A district court granted summary judgment for a utility company in a lawsuit concerning groundwater discharges from coal ash ponds at its power plant in Kentucky. Environmental groups argued that the discharges threatened immediate and substantial environmental harm to a nearby lake and streams, in ...

The Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to the Service's rule requiring that affected states receive a 30-day notice of intent to file a petition to list an endangered species. An environmental group argued that FWS violated the ESA by impermissibly requiring the 30-day no...

The Ninth Circuit remanded, 2-1, a rule EPA promulgated in 2019 in response to the court's 2017 writ of mandamus directing the Agency to respond to the need for updated lead-based paint hazard standards. Nonprofit groups argued the rule violated provisions of the the Residential Lead-Based Paint Haz...

A district court granted an environmental group's motion for preliminary injunction in a challenge to FWS' alleged allowance of commercial horseshoe crab harvesting in the Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge. The group argued the Service violated the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act (Refuge I...

A district court denied a Native American tribe's request to limit water releases from the Upper Klamath Lake to protect two endangered sucker fish species. The tribe argued that the Bureau of Reclamation's plan to regulate water in the Klamath Basin violated the ESA by allowing the lake's water lev...

A district court dismissed a RCRA citizen suit brought against present and former owners of chemical plants for allegedly releasing radioactive slag deposited on landowners' properties in New York. The landowners sought injunctive relief under RCRA, including ordering the plant owners to evaluate ea...