A district court granted summary judgment for DOI in a federally recognized tribe's challenge to the agency's refusal to take land into trust for a casino. The tribe argued DOI misinterpreted the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act (Michigan Act), and that its refusal violated the APA. The co...

A district court denied the Army Corps of Engineers' motion to dismiss an ESA citizen suit alleging the Corps' operation of a dam in California was unlawfully taking protected salmon species. An individual argued the Corps violated the ESA by jeopardizing salmon populations with the dam's flood cont...

The D.C Circuit denied an industry group's challenge to EPA's 2021 rule requiring power plants in several upwind states to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. The group argued the rule was arbitrary and capricious, and that EPA failed to conduct a legally and technically appropriate assessment as requi...

The Fifth Circuit reversed summary judgment for NOAA and NMFS in a challenge to the agencies' rule requiring charter boat owners to install NMFS-approved vessel monitoring systems (VMSs) to track the vessels' GPS locations. Charter boat captains argued the rule's tracking requirement exceeded the au...

The Sixth Circuit granted a petition to review EPA's removal of an air nuisance rule from Ohio's SIP. Environmental groups and individuals argued that EPA violated the CAA and APA in removing the rule. EPA moved to remand without vacatur to review its removal of the rule. The court found that vacatu...

A district court upheld BLM's approval of a proposed lithium mine project in Nevada. Environmental groups, ranchers, and tribes argued the project would cause unnecessary and undue degradation to the local sage-grouse population and habitat, groundwater aquifers, and air quality in violation of FLPM...

A district court granted summary judgment for BLM, fishing groups, and a tribe in a challenge to the Oregon Water Resources Department's (OWRD's) order prohibiting the Bureau from releasing water from Upper Klamath Lake. The plaintiffs argued BLM was required to comply with the ESA in operating the ...

A magistrate judge recommended that environmental groups' motion for summary judgment be denied in a challenge to FWS' authorization of oil and gas drilling on the northern coast of Alaska. The groups argued that FWS' five-year incidental take regulation, accompanying biological opinion, and EA unla...