A district court denied a nonprofit group's motion to preliminarily enjoin BLM from gathering wild horses inside and adjacent to the Onaqui Mountain Herd Management Area. The group argued BLM's 2018 decision to gather the horses over a period of 10 years violated the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Bur...

A district court granted in part and denied in part the city of Berkeley's motion to dismiss a challenge to its recently enacted ordinance affecting the availability of natural gas in new construction within the city. A restaurant group argued the ordinance was federally preempted by the Energy Poli...

A district court granted in part and denied in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Forest Service's and FWS' decisions concerning a revised forest plan for the Flathead National Forest. The groups argued the Services' decisions violated the ESA and NEPA. The ...

The Tenth Circuit reversed dismissal of a lawsuit concerning a New Mexico city's imposition of fees on residents who generate their own electricity via solar panels. The residents and an advocacy group argued the city's fees amounted to price discrimination in violation of FERC rules. The district c...

A district court granted summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to the adequacy of its recovery plan for the threatened bull trout. Environmental groups argued the plan failed to include objective and measurable criteria as required under §4(f) of the ESA. The court found that the ESA did not impo...

A district court denied FWS' motion to dismiss a challenge to its authorization of 12 leopard import permits from hunts expected to occur in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Zambia. Environmental groups argued FWS' authorization violated the ESA by making a non-detriment finding without considering the facto...

The U.S. Supreme Court held, 6-3, that a small refinery that previously received a hardship exemption from renewable fuel requirements may obtain an "extension" even if it saw a lapse in exemption coverage in a previous year. A group of renewable fuel producers had petitioned for review of EPA's gra...

The Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to the Service's 2017 decision reversing its 2011 decision that the Pacific walrus qualified for listing under the ESA. An environmental group had argued the Service violated the APA by failing to sufficiently explain its change in p...

The D.C. Circuit affirmed summary judgment for FWS in a lawsuit concerning its denial of a nonprofit group's permit applications to export four blue iguanas to a Danish zoo and to continue a captive-bred wildlife program at its Arizona facility. A district court saw no problem with FWS' denials and ...

In an unpublished opinion, the D.C. Circuit affirmed dismissal of a challenge to FWS' failure to provide notice and comment on its guidelines for creating species status assessments. An environmental group had argued that FWS violated the ESA by failing to put the guidelines through notice and comme...