A district court denied a Native American tribe's request to lift a stay in a lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation seeking to protect endangered coho salmon from the impacts of an irrigation project in the Klamath River Basin. The tribe asserted that the Bureau failed to comply with the terms o...

The Fifth Circuit dismissed a challenge to FWS' constitutional authority to regulate activities affecting the Bone Cave harvestman, a small arachnid known to live only in caves in central Texas that is currently listed as endangered under the ESA. A county and an individual, intervening plaintiffs i...

A district court denied FWS' and NMFS' motion to dismiss a challenge to the agencies' issuance of rules that revised key requirements of the ESA's implementing regulations. States and conservation groups argued that the agencies exceeded their statutory authority in issuing the rules in violation of...

A district court dismissed for lack of standing a challenge to FWS' and NMFS' issuance of rules that revised key requirements of ESA's implementing regulations. Conservation groups argued that the rules failed to provide an adequate EIS in violation of NEPA, failed to provide adequate notice and com...

A district court amended a previous order that vacated a nationwide permit (NWP 12) reissued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and enjoined the Corps from authorizing any dredge or fill activities under the permit pending completion of the ESA §7 consultation process. The Corps moved for a partia...

A magistrate judge granted in part and denied in part the Forest Service's and FWS' motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning a Forest Service policy that allows states to decide whether bait can be used to hunt black bears in national forests. Environmental groups argued that numerous grizzly bears ha...

A district court preliminarily enjoined the Bureau of Reclamation from expanding water export operations in California's Central Valley based on biological opinions (BiOps) adopted by NMFS and FWS in 2019. California and environmental groups argued that NMFS violated the APA by concluding that expan...

A district court ordered the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environment Affairs (MEOEEA) to seek an incidental take permit pursuant to the ESA before issuing licenses that allow fishermen to use vertical buoy ropes (VBRs) in Massachusetts coastal waters. A citizen argued that VBRs harm...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for DOD in a challenge to construction and operation of a new aircraft base in Okinawa, Japan, and its potential adverse effects on the endangered Okinawa dugong. Individuals and environmental groups argued that DOD failed to take into account the adverse ...

The Third Circuit affirmed a district court ruling that the U.S. government was not liable to a coatings company for cleanup costs at a chromite ore processing plant with which it was involved during World War I and World War II. The district court concluded the government was not subject to operato...