The Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit concerning a 2019 Texas law that allows only owners of existing transmission lines in the state to build, own, or operate new lines that connect to existing lines. A company seeking to enter the state...
A district court on remand granted environmental groups' request for a permanent injunction in an ESA citizen suit concerning a logging project on private land in Oregon. In initial proceedings, the groups sought a preliminary injunction, arguing the project would result in the taking of marbled mur...
The D.C. Circuit vacated a district court's grant of summary judgment to EPA in a challenge to the Agency's approval of a permitting program for coal ash disposal facilities in Oklahoma. Environmental groups challenged EPA’s approval on several grounds under RCRA and the APA, and the district cour...
The Tenth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a challenge to FWS' 2018 decision to modify certain trails in the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Community groups argued the modifications were significant and that FWS failed to prepare a supplemental EIS and relied on categorical exclusions based on a...
A district court granted summary judgment for conservation groups in a challenge to NMFS' 2021 issuance of a biological opinion (BiOp) and final rule concerning lobster fishing gear requirements and the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The groups argued the BiOp violated the ESA by allowing fo...
The First Circuit vacated a district court order preliminarily enjoining NOAA's partial seasonal closure of a Maine lobster fishery to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. A fishing union argued the closure was an arbitrary and capricious application of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a...
The Iowa Supreme Court, 4-3, affirmed a summary judgment order dismissing a landowner's nuisance, trespass, and drainage claims against a neighboring confined animal feeding operation (CAFO). The neighboring CAFO moved for summary judgment based on the statutory immunity enacted in Iowa's "right-to-...
A district court dismissed a challenge to FWS rules delaying the effective date of a January 2021 rule that designated portions of Washington, Oregon, and California as critical habitat for the northern spotted owl. A trade group and counties throughout the Pacific Northwest sought to vacate the "de...
A district court vacated a series of regulations enacted in 2019 that modified how FWS and NMFS implement the ESA. Environmental groups, states, and cities argued the regulations violated the ESA, the APA, and NEPA. FWS and NMFS moved to remand without vacatur, arguing vacatur would cause confusion ...
The Massachusetts Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's denial of an oil and gas company's motion to dismiss a civil enforcement action brought by the Massachusetts attorney general (AG) based on the company's communications with investors and consumers concerning the impact of climate change. The ...