The D.C. Circuit denied trade associations' petition for review of a nationwide permit issued by EPA for the discharge of pollutants incidental to the normal operation of vessels. The associations, which represent commercial ship owners and operators, raised a number of procedural challenges, al...

The D.C. Circuit held that a single sighting of a protected species is insufficient to render a property "occupied" for purposes of designating critical habitat under the ESA. In 2007, the FWS designated 143 acres of plaintiffs' property as critical habitat for the San Diego fairy shrimp under the E...

The Federal Circuit held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' temporary deviations from the water release rates set forth in an operating plan for the Clearwater Dam that caused increased flooding in Arkansas' Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area, which in turn caused excess...

The Ninth Circuit held that ESA §§7 and 9, as applied to the California delta smelt, do not violate the Commerce Clause. In 2008, the FWS issued a biological opinion (BiOp) to the Bureau of Reclamation concerning two federal and state water diversion projects in California's Central Valley...

A district court held that insurers have no duty to defend or indemnify a city in over two dozen underlying lawsuits alleging that the city delivered contaminated tap water to its residents. The insurance policies at issue contain pollution exclusion clauses. Under Illinois law, a pollution exclusio...

The Tenth Circuit held that an individual's conviction under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act for unlawfully possessing 141 eagle feathers does not violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The individual is a follower of a Native American faith but is neither a member of a fede...

A district court vacated the FWS' removal of the Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel from the list of endangered species. Instead of applying the criteria set forth in the squirrel's recovery plan when it issued the delisting rule, the FWS conducted an analysis based on the five listing factors contai...

The Third Circuit upheld regulations issued by the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) implementing an amendment to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan that, among other things, sets a "control date" that effectively terminates the access rights of general scallop fishermen w...

The Fifth Circuit vacated portions of EPA's 2008 concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) rule. The rule requires CAFOs that propose to discharge to apply for an NPDES permit. But there must be an actual discharge into navigable waters to trigger the CWA's requirements. EPA, therefore,...

The Ninth Circuit held that a local flood district is liable under the CWA for discharging polluted stormwater into the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers. Environmental groups filed suit against the flood district as well as against a county for unlawful stormwater discharges into the Los A...