The D.C. Circuit vacated EPA's withdrawal of its determination to regulate perchlorate in drinking water. An environmental group argued EPA lacked the authority to withdraw the determination under the SDWA, and that even if it did have such authority, it acted arbitrarily and capriciously in doing s...

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a splintered 5-4 decision, affirmed dismissal of a constitutional challenge to a California law that forbids in-state sale of pork meat from breeding pigs that are "confined in a cruel manner." Out-of-state pork producers challenged the law on dormant Commerce Clause groun...

A district court adopted the recommendations of a magistrate judge and vacated portions of NMFS' 2019 biological opinion concerning the incidental take statement that authorized take of southern resident killer whales and chinook salmon resulting from commercial harvest of chinook salmon during trol...

A magistrate judge recommended that the Forest Service's motion to dismiss be denied in a challenge to a proposed logging project in the Fremont-Winema National Forest. An environmental group argued the Service violated the National Forest Management Act and the APA by failing to provide an adequate...

A magistrate judge recommended that BLM's motion to dismiss be denied in a challenge to its proposed logging project in northwest Oregon. Environmental groups argued BLM's landscape plan for the project violated NEPA by failing to establish baseline environmental conditions, failing to consider sign...

A district court granted environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin a logging project in the Kootenai National Forest. The groups argued the project violated the ESA by failing to adequately consider the impacts of unauthorized motorized access on grizzly bears in the project area. The cou...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the U.S. government in a challenge to President Obama's issuance of a proclamation expanding the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in southwestern Oregon. A timber company argued the proclamation was an invalid exercise of the Antiquities Act because ...

In an unpublished order, the Fifth Circuit, 2-1, stayed EPA's disapproval of SIPs submitted by Texas and Louisiana following the Agency's 2015 revision to the ozone NAAQS. The states moved for a stay pending review of EPA's disapproval. The court found a stay was appropriate because the states made ...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed for mootness a challenge to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM's) 2021 oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental groups argued the sale violated NEPA. The district court had concluded BOEM failed to properly follow NEPA procedures, and vacated ...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of an industry group's challenge to the city of Berkeley's natural gas hookup ban. The group argued the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) preempted the ban, which enacted a building code prohibiting installation of natural gas p...