The Ninth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of Hawaii's regulation of commercial weddings on the state's unencumbered beaches in all respects but one. A pastor and wedding planning companies filed suit against the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) alleging that its permit re...

The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service violated the ESA when it failed to consult with federal wildlife agencies before approving four notices of intent (NOIs) to conduct mining activities in coho salmon critical habitat within the Klamath National Forest. The ...

A district court held that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) did not violate NEPA or the ESA when it accepted over 300 bids for oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. An environmental group argued that the ag...

The Eleventh Circuit upheld FWS' decision denying environmental groups' petitions to designate critical habitat for the Florida panther under the ESA. The Secretary of the Interior listed the Florida panther as an endangered species in 1967—more than a decade before the 1978 amendments required a ...

The Eleventh Circuit upheld FWS' denial of petitions to designate critical habitat for the Florida panther under the ESA. Environmental groups claimed that the denial of their petitions was arbitrary and capricious under the APA. But neither the ESA nor the regulations cited by the groups provid...

A North Carolina appellate court held that a state statute that places limitations on the size and location of solid waste landfills does not violate the Commerce Clause by discriminating against out-of-state waste. It is undisputed that the statute, N.C. Gen. Stat. §130A-295.6 (2011), does not fac...