Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility v. United States Fish & Wildlife Service
A district court held that FWS violated NEPA when it reissued two orders authorizing the killing of double-crested cormorants in certain states. FWS issued an EA and FONSI for the orders rather than an EIS. But the EA is insufficient to justify FWS' FONSI because FWS did not take the requisite “ha...
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Ass'ns v. United States Department of Interior
The Ninth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision dismissing fishermen's NEPA claims against the Bureau of Reclamation in connection with its approval of eight interim two-year contracts for delivery of water from the Central Valley Project to...
San Diego Navy Broadway Complex Coalition v. United States Department of Defense
The Ninth Circuit held that the government complied with NEPA when it issued a FONSI in connection with the redevelopment of a 15-acre waterfront site owned by the U.S. Navy in downtown San Diego. The site serves as the home to several non-operational, administrative components of the U.S. Navy, and...
Atherton v. United States
A district court dismissed an individual's Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit against the United States for allegedly causing him to suffer severe emotional trauma and harm to his "internal organs" after he woke up to the sound of a U.S. Park Police helicopter flying overhead. The helicopter was...
Jam v. International Finance Corp.
A district court dismissed a lawsuit brought by Indian fishermen and farmers against the World Bank in connection with a $450 million loan issued for the construction of a coal-fired power plant in India. The plaintiffs filed suit against the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC), arg...
Navajo Nation v. U.S. Department of the Interior,
The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing the Navajo Nation's lawsuit against the National Park Service (NPS) that seeks immediate return of human remains and associated funerary objects taken from its reservation. Between 1931 and 1990, NPS removed 303 sets of human remains and a...
Bohmker v. Oregon
A district court dismissed a lawsuit brought by individual miners and various mining groups, associations, and businesses challenging an Oregon law that temporarily bans instream motorized mining to protect water quality and fish habitat. The law, with some exceptions, temporarily prohibits instream...