A district court denied summary judgment for landowners in Idaho who sought to halt construction of a public recreational trail across their ranch. The landowners argued the Forest Service violated the ESA by failing to complete §7 consultation with FWS; the CWA by failing to disclose the nature of...

A district court halted construction of a proposed high-voltage transmission line through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. Environmental groups challenged FWS' original compatibility determination for the transmission line, which granted utility companies a right-of-way...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed as moot Alaska's challenge to the Forest Service's 2001 Roadless Rule. The challenge centered on the Roadless Rule's impact on the Tongass National Forest, which the USDA exempted from the rule in 2020, but the state argued it should be allowed to proceed because the exemp...

A district court granted summary judgment for the Forest Service in environmental groups' lawsuit concerning federally permitted livestock grazing in Colville National Forest. The groups argued the Service violated NEPA and the National Forest Management Act (NMFA) by failing to adequately assess th...

The Second Circuit denied two petitions to review EPA's final rule restricting access by customers to methylene chloride. A solvent company challenged the rule, arguing that the method of restricting customer use was arbitrary and capricious because of its incidental impact on commercial uses, and t...

A district court temporarily suspended a logging project in grizzly bear habitat in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. An environmental group argued the Forest Service's approval of the project violated NEPA. The court found that the Service's failure to apply the Healthy Forests Restoration Act's...

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...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for DOI and a Native American tribe in a lawsuit brought by a nearby tribe challenging DOI's decision that the former tribe's proposed casino on newly acquired off-reservation land would not be detrimental to the surrounding community. The plaintiff tribe ...

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...

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Forest Service in a lawsuit concerning domestic sheep grazing in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Environmental groups argued the Service violated the National Forest Management Act, NEPA, and the APA by utilizin...