WildEarth Guardians v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service
A district court granted in part a motion for summary judgment in a challenge to FWS' 2012 biological opinions concerning protections for the threatened Mexican spotted owl. An environmental group argued the opinions, which concluded that timber management activities proposed by the U.S. Forest Serv...
American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit granted a petition to review EPA's 2018 rule that set renewable fuel applicable volumes and percentage standards under the Renewable Fuel Standard Program. Environmental groups argued that the Agency violated the ESA by failing to consult with FWS and NMFS regarding whether the rule...
PennEast Pipeline Co., LLC
The Third Circuit vacated a district court decision granting a gas pipeline company's orders of condemnation and preliminary injunctive relief for immediate access to properties along the pipeline route that had been preserved by New Jersey for recreational, conservation, and agricultural use. New J...
Oberlin, Ohio v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The D.C. Circuit remanded to FERC for further explanation of its order authorizing a company to construct an interstate natural gas pipeline through Michigan and Ohio and to use eminent domain to acquire any necessary rights-of-way. A city and landowner group sought vacatur of the order, arguing tha...
Friends of Animals v. Ross
A district court vacated NMFS' 2014 decision not to list the queen conch, a marine mollusk that inhabits the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, as endangered or threatened under the ESA. Environmental groups argued the decision should be vacated because NMFS applied a now-vacated agency policy to det...
Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Fifth Circuit dismissed environmental groups' challenge to EPA's issuance of a CWA general permit authorizing discharges from oil and gas facilities operating in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental groups argued that EPA violated NEPA by failing to prepare an adequate EIS before issuing the permit...