In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit granted in part environmental groups' petition to review EPA's registration of a new fungicide called inpyrfluxam. The groups argued EPA failed to make an effects determination under §7(a)(2) of the ESA and to consult with federal wildlife agencies, and ...

A district court granted summary judgment for conservation groups in a challenge to NMFS' 2021 issuance of a biological opinion (BiOp) and final rule concerning lobster fishing gear requirements and the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The groups argued the BiOp violated the ESA by allowing fo...

The First Circuit vacated a district court order preliminarily enjoining NOAA's partial seasonal closure of a Maine lobster fishery to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. A fishing union argued the closure was an arbitrary and capricious application of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a...

A district court dismissed a challenge to FWS rules delaying the effective date of a January 2021 rule that designated portions of Washington, Oregon, and California as critical habitat for the northern spotted owl. A trade group and counties throughout the Pacific Northwest sought to vacate the "de...

A district court vacated a series of regulations enacted in 2019 that modified how FWS and NMFS implement the ESA. Environmental groups, states, and cities argued the regulations violated the ESA, the APA, and NEPA. FWS and NMFS moved to remand without vacatur, arguing vacatur would cause confusion ...

The Ninth Circuit granted in part and denied in part a petition to review EPA's determination that glyphosate did not pose "any unreasonable risk to man or the environment." Nonprofit groups challenged the Agency's determination, arguing that EPA did not adequately consider whether the weedkiller ca...

A district court granted an environmental group's motion to preliminarily enjoin the Forest Service and FWS from moving forward with a logging and road building project in the Kootenai National Forest. The group argued the agencies violated the ESA by failing to conduct a lawful cumulative effects a...

A district court granted FWS' motion for voluntary remand in a challenge to its 2020 decision to withdraw a 2013 proposed rule to list the wolverine as a threatened distinct population segment (DPS) in the contiguous United States under the ESA. Environmental groups argued the withdrawal was based o...

A district court granted summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to FWS' 2020 withdrawal of its 2013 proposal to list the bi-state sage-grouse as a threatened species under the ESA, and vacated the withdrawal. The groups argued the withdrawal violated the ESA because the Service's d...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the National Park Service (NPS) in a challenge to the Service's authority to prohibit commercial herring fishing in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). A fishing group argued that NPS lacked authority under the GGNRA Act to enforce the co...