Bohmker v. Oregon
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a summary judgment rejecting a mining association's challenge to an Oregon law that prohibits the use of motorized mining equipment in rivers and streams containing essential salmon habitat. The association argued that the law was field preempted by the federal 1872 Mining...
League of United Latin American Citizens v. New York
The Ninth Circuit granted environmental groups' petition to review EPA's 2017 order maintaining a tolerance for the pesticide chlorpyrifos, and vacated the Agency's order. The groups argued that the Agency's need for additional scientific research was not a valid ground for maintaining a tolerance t...
Sierra Club v. United States Department of the Interior
The Fourth Circuit vacated both an incidental take statement issued by FWS and a right-of-way permit issued by the National Park Service (NPS) for construction of a natural gas pipeline that intersects the Blue Ridge Parkway. Environmental groups argued that the take limits set by FWS in its Inciden...
Sierra Club, Inc. v. United States Forest Service
The Fourth Circuit vacated and remanded BLM's decision granting a right-of-way through federal land for construction of a pipeline and the U.S. Forest Service's decision to amend the Jefferson National Forest Land Resource Management Plan to accommodate the right-of-way and pipeline construction. En...
Center for Biological Diversity v. EPA
A district court granted in part but largely denied in part EPA's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by environmental groups alleging that EPA failed to consult with federal wildlife agencies before registering over 2,000 pesticide products. The groups argued that EPA violated the ESA by failing to e...
Western Organization of Resource Councils v. Zinke
The D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court decision granting DOI's motion to dismiss an order compelling it to update the EIS for the federal coal management program. Environmental and community organizations claimed that the programmatic EIS (PEIS) for the program violated NEPA and the APA. They argue...