The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment for agricultural producers and businesses and a permanent injunction enjoining the California attorney general (AG) from enforcing Proposition 65's carcinogen warning requirement for the herbicide glyphosate. Plaintiffs ar...
The Eighth Circuit granted farming groups' petitions to review EPA's 2021 order banning agricultural use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos. The groups argued EPA's "rushed" decision to revoke all tolerances for chlorpyrifos, in response to a Ninth Circuit order directing the Agency to either revoke al...
A district court denied a biologist's motion to preliminarily enjoin flood control releases from the Coyote Valley Dam into the Russian River to protect ESA-listed salmon species. The biologist sought to enjoin the Army Corps of Engineers from making flood control releases unless it determines that ...
The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the operator of a chemical storage facility in a lawsuit concerning the operator's 2019 oil spill into the Houston Ship Channel. Shipping companies that were forced to stop operations after the spill sued the operator, seeking economic loss damages und...
The Second Circuit affirmed summary judgment for NMFS in a challenge to its 2020 allocation rule setting summer flounder quotas for eleven states. The state of New York argued that by failing to allocate a higher quota to New York, the rule failed to account for the long-term movement of summer flou...
A district court denied an environmental group's motion for summary judgment in a challenge to FWS' 2019 decision to reclassify the American burying beetle under the ESA from endangered to threatened. The group argued the Service violated the ESA by downlisting the beetle based on inadequate data an...
A district court denied summary judgment for nonprofit groups in a challenge to FWS' authorization of permits to import Sub-Saharan African leopard trophies from overseas sport hunting in Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The groups argued FWS violated the APA by making unsubstantiated non-detriment f...
A district court granted summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to FWS' 12-month finding and determination that the eastern hellbender did not warrant listing as a threatened or endangered species under the ESA. The groups argued FWS failed to articulate a rational and legal basis ...
Since 2017, 115 North Atlantic right whales (NARWs) have been documented dead, seriously injured, or sporting sublethal injuries and illnesses. Scientists refer to this phenomenon as an unusual mortality event, and assert that entanglement and vessel strikes are the leading causes. Fewer than 350 NARWs remain, and it is estimated that only one-third of their deaths are documented. Experts claim that only “quick and decisive action from humans” can ensure the species’ survival. Some proposed regulations will affect where and how the relevant fisheries are able to operate.
A district court granted in part and denied in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Forest Service's and FWS' approval of a logging project in Kootenai National Forest. The groups argued, among other things, that the Services failed to take a "hard look" at th...