The Ninth Circuit held that a court may not approve a consent decree that substantially and permanently amends regulations that the agency could only otherwise amend by complying with statutory rulemaking procedures. The consent decree at issue in the case arose from a settlement between environment...
A district court dismissed with leave to amend environmental groups' lawsuit against EPA alleging that it violated the ESA by failing to undertake required consultations regarding the effects of 382 registered pesticides on endangered and threatened species. The groups seek a broad remedy—an injun...
The Federal Circuit reversed the dismissal of landowners "rails to trails" takings claims against the government. The landowners alleged that the government's issuance of a Notice of Interim Trail Use or Abandonment (NITU) in 2006 constituted a compensable Fifth Amendment taking because it operated ...
A district court dismissed as untimely Alaska's lawsuit challenging the 2001 roadless rule, which prohibits roadwork and timber harvesting on 58.5 million acres of national forest, including 14.7 million acres of the Tongass and Chugach National Forests in Alaska. Alaska's cause of action accrued in...
A district court held that individual ingredients of hydraulic fracturing formulas are trade secrets and do not need to be publicly disclosed. The Wyoming Public Records Act does not define trade secrets, but the Wyoming oil and gas commission's policy for evaluating trade secrets is reasonable and ...
The Second Circuit held that an environmental group has standing to bring an action to compel FDA to finalize its regulation of triclosan, but not triclocarban, both of which are used in over-the-counter antiseptic antimicrobial soap. As to triclosan, standing may be based on exposure to a potential...