The D.C. Circuit granted a petition to review EPA's 2018 rule that set renewable fuel applicable volumes and percentage standards under the Renewable Fuel Standard Program. Environmental groups argued that the Agency violated the ESA by failing to consult with FWS and NMFS regarding whether the rule...

A district court vacated NMFS' 2014 decision not to list the queen conch, a marine mollusk that inhabits the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, as endangered or threatened under the ESA. Environmental groups argued the decision should be vacated because NMFS applied a now-vacated agency policy to det...

A district court granted in part and denied in part DOI's motion to dismiss a challenge to its 2017 interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that permitted the "incidental" taking of migratory birds. Environmental groups and states argued the agency's interpretation was arbitrary and capricio...

The Fourth Circuit vacated a biological opinion and incidental take statement issued by FWS in connection with a proposed natural gas pipeline that would run from West Virginia to North Carolina. Environmental groups argued that FWS improperly determined that construction of the pipeline would not j...

A district court dismissed a challenge to FWS' denial of a petition to remove the coastal California gnatcatcher from the ESA's threatened species list. Advocacy groups argued the Service's denial of their petition to delist the bird species violated the ESA because the decision was not based on an ...

A district court ordered the U.S. Forest Service to engage in formal consultation with other federal agencies to protect listed fish species being harmed by water diversions from the Salmon River in Idaho's Sawtooth National Recreation Area. An environmental group argued that the Service violated th...

A district court granted environmental groups' motion to set aside FEMA's biological evaluation to determine whether proposed revisions to the National Flood Insurance Program would affect species and habitats protected under the ESA. The groups argued that FEMA wrongfully failed to consider effects...

The Tenth Circuit affirmed a judgment dismissing a challenge to a U.S. Forest Service decision allowing Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources to release mountain goats on state lands adjacent to the Manti-La Sal National Forest. A conservation group argued that the Service—knowing the Division's p...

A district court denied an environmental group's motion for summary judgment in a challenge to NMFS' approval of a fishery management plan amendment that opened up a portion of the western Gulf of Maine to commercial and recreational fishing. The group argued that NMFS wrongly concluded that the ame...

The D.C. Circuit affirmed summary judgment for NMFS in a challenge to the agency's adoption of the 2016 Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology for fisheries in the northeastern United States. An environmental group argued that the 2016 methodology violated the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) because ...