The D.C. Circuit denied petitions to review EPA's promulgation of a rule that regulates the emission of greenhouse gases from aircraft engines under CAA §231 by aligning domestic standards with those recently promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Twelve states, the Di...
The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part petitions to review EPA's revisions to designations promulgated in 2018 for northern Weld County, Colorado, and El Paso, Texas, as areas that had attained 2015 ozone pollution standards. The revised designations folded Weld County into the greater ...
The Ninth Circuit granted DOI's motion to dismiss a long-running land exchange dispute over construction of a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The court found the Secretary of the Interior's recent withdrawal of the exchange, which was approved by a previous Secretary, mooted the c...
The D.C. Circuit reversed summary judgment for NMFS in a Maine lobstermen group's challenge to the Service's 2021 biological opinion (BiOp) that authorized a series of federal fisheries, including the lobster fishery, and implemented a conservation framework designed to reduce the fisheries' impact ...
The D.C. Circuit, in a split ruling, vacated certain provisions of EPA's rule phasing out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Two companies and three trade groups argued EPA exceeded its authority in issuing the rule and that the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, which directed the ...
The Tenth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part dismissal of a challenge to the Forest Service's approval of grazing permits in Bridger-Teton National Forest that authorized the "lethal take" of grizzly bears. Environmental groups challenged the approval, arguing FWS violated the ESA because...
A district court denied summary judgment for a group of landowners in a challenge to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM's) and NMFS' decisions approving an offshore wind energy project off the coast of Nantucket. The group argued that NMFS violated the ESA by failing to adequately conside...
The Ninth Circuit affirmed vacatur of FWS' designation of an area in the northern Santa Rita Mountains as occupied critical habitat for jaguar. An environmental group initially sued FWS, challenging the Service's conclusion that a proposed copper mine project in the area would not destroy or adverse...
A district court adopted the recommendations of a magistrate judge and vacated portions of NMFS' 2019 biological opinion concerning the incidental take statement that authorized take of southern resident killer whales and chinook salmon resulting from commercial harvest of chinook salmon during trol...
A district court granted environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin a logging project in the Kootenai National Forest. The groups argued the project violated the ESA by failing to adequately consider the impacts of unauthorized motorized access on grizzly bears in the project area. The cou...