The court grants summary judgment to the U.S. Department of the Interior in a citizen suit action brought against it under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Administrative Procedure Act challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS') approval of a habitat conservation plan (HCP) and a...
The court vacates a portion of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation in which it determined that oil-bearing wastewaters generated by the petroleum refining industry are solid wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), but upheld EPA's determination that recove...
The court holds unconstitutional the requirement in §609(a) of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Appropriations Act of 1990 that the executive branch initiate discussions with foreign nations to develop treaties to protect sea turtles, and holds that the Co...
The court affirms in part and reverses in part a district court decision upholding National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regulations providing a Native American tribe an allocation of the Pacific whiting fishery. In the 1850s, Washington State entered into several treaties known as the Stevens Tr...
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that dismissed plaintiffs’ pre-enforcement challenge to the anti-animal-fighting provisions of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) on the grounds that plaintiffs lacked standing. The court held that none of plaintiffs’ claimed injuries were sufficient t...
The court upholds the dismissal of individuals' employment retaliation suits against the state of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management concerning potential Solid Waste Disposal Act violations. The state has not waived its right to sovereign immunity, and the U.S. ...
A district court held that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) failed to take a hard look at its decision to deregulate alfalfa genetically engineered to resist the herbicide glyphosate—the active ingredient in "RoundUp." Substantial questions exist as to whether the deregulatio...
A district court granted in part and denied in part environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin all logging of suitable spotted owl habitat on private lands in owl circles outside of spotted owl special emphasis areas throughout the state of Washington. The court granted the groups' request...
A district court dismissed environmental groups' claim that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has never undertaken the study of coal mining wastes requested by Congress and, accordingly, has failed to determine whether such wastes should be regulated as "hazardous" under Subtitle C of t...
There seems to be agreement across a wide spectrum of those involved in Superfund cleanups that such cleanups should take into consideration the kinds of activities that are expected to take place at the site after the remedial work is completed. While cleaning every site to levels suitable for all conceivable uses may be a laudable goal, doing so can impose costs that are out of proportion to the added amount of protection obtained.