The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court ruling in favor of the Bureau of Reclamation and FWS in a challenge to the agencies' renewal of water supply contracts in California. Environmental groups argued that FWS conducted an inadequate consultation on the effects of the renewals on delta smelt an...

The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, reversed summary judgment for the Forest Service in a challenge to its approval of a mineral exploration project on land in Inyo National Forest. Environmental groups argued the Service violated NEPA by combing two categorical exclusions (CEs) when neither alone could be invo...

The Fifth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed two district courts' orders remanding to state court lawsuits brought by Louisiana parishes against various oil and gas companies. The parishes initially sued in state court, arguing the companies violated Louisiana’s State and Local Coastal Resources Management Ac...

A district court granted summary judgment for a fisheries biologist in a challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers' flood control operations at a California dam. The biologist argued the operations, which released water from the dam into the Russian River, violated §9 of the ESA by unlawfully "takin...

The D.C. Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Army Corps of Engineers and NMFS in a challenge to approval of a dredging project in Puerto Rico's San Juan Bay. Environmental groups argued the agencies failed to take the necessary "hard look" at the project's environmental effect. The district co...

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...

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 ...

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 U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the Takings Clause does not distinguish between legislative and administrative land use permit conditions, in a lawsuit concerning a traffic impact fee as a condition of building a prefabricated home on a parcel of land. The landowner challenged the fee a...

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that Texas property owners should be permitted to pursue claims under the Takings Clause through an inverse-condemnation cause of action available under Texas law. Over 120 property owners argued that a Texas highway elevation and expansion project, which buil...