A district court dismissed a trade group's lawsuit challenging NMFS' implementation of an amendment to the groundfish fishery management plan (FMP) that changed how the halibut bycatch limit is set for fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. The group argued the amendment violated the Magn...

In a divided opinion, a D.C. Circuit panel vacated FAA's and the National Park Service's plan governing tourist flights over four national parks in California, and also ruled that CEQ lacked the authority to issue regulations binding on other federal agencies. An environmental group sought to set as...

A district court on remand permanently enjoined the Public Utility Commission of Texas from enforcing a 2019 state law that limited the ability to build, own, or operate new transmission lines to owners of existing transmission facilities in Texas, in areas of the state not covered by the main grid ...

A district court vacated the Army Corps of Engineers' permit approvals under the CWA and the Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA) for development of a new port along the Delaware River. Three upriver ports challenged the Corps' decisionmaking process under the APA. The court found the Corps did not engage i...

A district court granted an Indian tribe's motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against BLM's decision to approve the third phase of a lithium drilling project in northwestern Arizona. The tribe argued BLM violated the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) when it found no historical p...

The Tenth Circuit, 2-1, reversed a district court ruling in a challenge to the Forest Service's approval of a 2020 management plan amendment for the Thunder Basin National Grassland in northeastern Wyoming. Conservation groups had argued the amendment failed to comply with the ESA and NEPA. The dist...

A district court held that the Army Corps of Engineers violated the CWA and NEPA by issuing a dredge-and-fill permit to a municipal water utility to allow a dam expansion project in Denver. Environmental groups argued the Corps violated the CWA by excluding alternatives as impracticable based on an ...

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a challenge to the Forest Service's approval of sheep grazing allotments in Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest. An environmental group argued the Service overlooked new information on grizzly bear mortality and conflicts with sheep...

The Hawaii Supreme Court held that greenhouse gases (GHGs) were "pollutants" under several insurance policies' pollution exclusions and that an "accident" included an insured's reckless conduct for purposes of a challenge against fossil fuel companies for climate change-related harms. The city and c...

A district court dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction a nonprofit group's challenge to the Forest Service's and BLM's herd management plan for wild horses and burros in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The group argued the agencies arbitrarily and capriciously authorized use of surgica...