A district court adopted in part, modified in part, and rejected in part a magistrate judge's findings and recommendations in a challenge to FWS' biological opinion (BiOp) for Flathead National Forest's 2018 revised land management plan. Environmental groups argued FWS and the Forest Service violate...

A district court granted in part and denied in part an outdoor recreation group's motion to preliminarily enjoin the National Park Service's (NPS') regulations governing commercial filming on public lands. The group argued the regulations' land use fee and permitting requirements violated the First ...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's permanent injunction in an ESA citizen suit concerning a proposed timber harvesting project on private property in Oregon. Environmental groups argued the project would cause a "take" of marbled murrelets in violation of the ESA by clearing acres of tree...

In an unpublished per curiam judgment, the D.C. Circuit affirmed summary judgment for NMFS in a challenge to the Service's 2019 rule regarding turtle excluder devices. Environmental groups argued the final rule was not adequately explained, that it was not a logical outgrowth of the proposed rule th...

The U.S. Supreme Court, 6-3, held the Seventh Amendment entitled an investment advisor to a jury trial in an enforcement action initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking civil penalties for securities fraud. The SEC adjudicated the matter administratively, and determined the ...

The U.S. Supreme Court, 6-3, held the APA requires courts to exercise independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority and that courts may not defer to an agency's interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous, overruling Chevron U.S.A. In...

The Fifth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a constitutional challenge brought by a pipeline company concerning a 1949 permit a local levee board granted to the company to construct and maintain two pipelines across a levee in Mayersville, Mississippi. The company argued the board violated the Contracts...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court ruling in favor of the Bureau of Reclamation and FWS in a challenge to the agencies' renewal of water supply contracts in California. Environmental groups argued that FWS conducted an inadequate consultation on the effects of the renewals on delta smelt an...

A district court granted summary judgment for a fisheries biologist in a challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers' flood control operations at a California dam. The biologist argued the operations, which released water from the dam into the Russian River, violated §9 of the ESA by unlawfully "takin...

A district court granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for a conservation group in a challenge to NMFS' management of the Pacific sardine under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) and NEPA. The group argued NMFS' plan to rebuild the sardine population after it was declared overfished in 201...