The Fifth Circuit dismissed intervening environmental groups' challenge to a district court order requiring the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to hold an oil and gas lease sale on the outer continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. The state of Louisiana and oil companies initially sued BOE...

A district court denied environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin an oil drilling project in Wyoming's Powder River Basin. The groups argued DOI's initial approval of the project violated NEPA by failing to take a "hard look" at relevant environmental issues, violated FLPMA by failing to ...

A district court dismissed environmental groups' challenge to BLM's approval of a 600-million-barrel oil development project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The groups first argued BLM violated NEPA by failing to consider a reasonable range of alternatives and by failing to adequately anal...

A district court denied environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin implementation of a BLM-approved watershed restoration project in eastern Nevada. The groups argued BLM violated NEPA by failing to take a "hard look" at the project's impacts, and violated FLPMA by failing to address speci...

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 ...

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part summary judgment for the Forest Service and FWS in a challenge to their approval of a cattle grazing project in Oregon. Environmental groups first argued the Service's final EIS failed to take a "hard look" at three i...

The Eleventh Circuit denied several individuals' petition to review FAA approval of an airport expansion project in Florida. The individuals argued FAA violated NEPA by segmenting its review of a single development project into multiple, smaller projects to make environmental effects appear less sig...

The Fifth Circuit reversed a district court ruling upholding the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to issue a CWA §404 permit to fill wetlands for a commercial and residential development project in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. Parish residents and environmental groups argued the Corps' decision ...

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...