A district court granted in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to various agency actions relating to EPA's approval of the state of Florida's application to assume permitting authority under §404 of the CWA. The groups argued EPA and FWS violated the ESA because n...

A district court denied nonprofit groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to FWS' 2016 decision to delist the Louisiana black bear after determining its population had recovered and was no longer threatened. The groups argued FWS should not have included the Upper Atchafalaya River Basin ...

A district court granted NMFS' motion to dismiss a challenge to its lobster fishing gear regulations. Environmental groups argued the regulations did not adequately protect the endangered North American right whale, in violation of the ESA and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. NMFS moved to dismiss ...

The Fourth Circuit reversed a district court order abstaining from ruling on constitutional claims brought by mineral interest owners challenging amendments to West Virginia's oil and gas conservation law. Plaintiffs argued the amendments, which for the first time authorized "unitization of interest...

A district court granted environmental groups' motion to lift a stay of a suit challenging NMFS' biological opinion (BiOp) concerning oil and gas activity in the Gulf of Mexico. The groups initially argued NMFS issued a flawed BiOp that underestimated the risks of harm to protected species and took ...

The Eighth Circuit reversed a district court ruling in a challenge to Iowa's "ag gag" law that criminalizes undercover investigations at agricultural production facilities. Initially, the law prohibited the facilities from being accessed under false pretenses as well as prohibited false statements o...

The Tenth Circuit reversed a district court finding of a CWA violation in a citizen suit brought against the operator of a gold mine in Colorado. Plaintiffs argued the operator violated the CWA because seepage from the mine's settling ponds flowed into the groundwater and then migrated to the Middle...

The Fifth Circuit vacated a district court ruling in a decades-long dispute over whether a property in Louisiana contains federally regulated wetlands. The property owner sued the Army Corps of Engineers, arguing its determination that the property contained federal regulated wetlands was arbitrary ...

A district court granted in part summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to a National Park Service (NPS) agreement with Miami-Dade County to facilitate development of a waterpark, hotel, and retail area near the Miami Zoo. The groups argued NPS violated NEPA and the ESA by failing ...

The Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to its biological opinion (BiOp) concerning water pumping impacts on ESA-protected species in Arizona's San Pedro River Basin. An environmental group argued the BiOp, which concluded that a conservation easement proposed to compensat...