The court affirms a district court dismissal of an environmental group's suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for failing to reinitiate consultation regarding an incidental take permit issued to a timber company under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The incidental take permit allo...

The court holds that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) adequately assessed whether implementation of a bottomfish fishery management plan (FMP) for the Northwest Hawaiian Islands would jeopardize the continued existence of the endangered monk seal. The district court originally held that ...

The court denies an engine manufacturer's petition to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Clean Air Act (CAA) Phase 2 emissions standards for new nonroad spark-ignition handheld engines. The court first holds that the record shows that EPA complied with CAA §213(a)(3) and reas...

The court denies environmental groups' motion for a preliminary injunction requiring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' management of a Florida water project to comply with certain provisions of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)-issued reasonable and prudent alternative (RPA) that would allegedl...

The court dismisses on motions for summary judgment a fishing association's claims against the Secretary of Commerce challenging the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS') 2001 summer flounder quotas and summer flounder fishery management plan (FMP) regulations. The court first holds that the a...

The court reverses a district court decision and holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) does not have discretion under Endangered Species Act (ESA) §4 to make an initial determination to list a petitioned species beyond the ESA's 12-month deadline for making final determinations. The c...

The court holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's (FWS') decision that the westlope cutthroat trout (WCT) did not warrant listing as an endangered or threatened species was arbitrary and capricious. The FWS concluded that listing the WCT under the Endangered Species Act was unwarranted because viabl...

The court holds that the best available retrofit technology (BART) provisions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regional haze rule violate the Clean Air Act (CAA), but that the rule's natural visibility goal and no degradation requirement do not. The regional haze rule calls for ...

The court denies an industry association's petition to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) denial of the association's Clean Air Act (CAA) §112(b)(3) petition to delete methanol from the CAA list of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). The association's petition to delist methanol...

The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not abuse its discretion or act arbitrarily or capriciously in invalidating a state-granted prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permit and finding that a state environmental agency's best available control technology (...