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...

A district court denied in part and dismissed in part two nonprofit groups' challenge to DOE's approval of a freshwater offshore wind project in Lake Erie. The groups argued DOE violated NEPA by failing to prepare an EIS and failing to take a "hard look" at reasonable alternatives and cumulative imp...

A district court denied an environmental group's motion for summary judgment in a challenge to BLM's decision to amend the California Desert Conservation Area Plan and grant a right-of-way to a company to construct and operate an electric energy project near Joshua Tree National Park. The group argu...

A district court denied summary judgment for nonprofit groups in a challenge to FWS' authorization of permits to import Sub-Saharan African leopard trophies from overseas sport hunting in Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The groups argued FWS violated the APA by making unsubstantiated non-detriment f...

A district court denied environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Forest Service's approval of a grazing project in the Apache-Sitgreaves and Gila National Forests. The groups argued the Service violated NEPA by failing to take a "hard look" at impacts on Mexican gray w...

A district court granted the state of Louisiana's and oil and gas companies' motions to preliminarily enjoin the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM's) withdrawal of six million acres from, and addition of a term to, an oil and gas lease sale on the outer continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexic...

A district court dismissed a mining company's challenge to DOI's cancellation of two leases for a proposed copper and nickel mine in Superior National Forest. The company argued the cancellation violated the company's right to successive lease renewals and to be free from government action that is a...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of a preliminary injunction to halt two projects to thin vegetation in Yosemite National Park in preparation for controlled burns. An environmental group had argued NPS violated NEPA by approving the projects without conducting a full review of th...

A district court granted summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to FWS' 12-month finding and determination that the eastern hellbender did not warrant listing as a threatened or endangered species under the ESA. The groups argued FWS failed to articulate a rational and legal basis ...