The D.C. Circuit granted in part, denied in part, and dismissed in part a petition to review FERC's approval of changes to dam operations in northwest Indiana after determining that the hydroelectric dam partially caused mussel deaths, as well as FWS' biological opinion (BiOp) upon which the Commiss...
A district court denied motions for summary judgment in a lawsuit seeking FOIA disclosure of records regarding an order issued by the Secretary of the Interior concerning the federal coal program. An environmental group argued that DOI failed to conduct an adequate search for responsive records, fai...
The Fifth Circuit denied a petition to review FWS' issuance of a biological opinion (BiOp) and incidental take statement (ITS) authorizing the harm or harassment of endangered ocelot or jaguarundi in connection with construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas pipeline in South Texas. Envir...
The Fifth Circuit upheld a rule issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission prohibiting the manufacture and sale of children's toys and childcare articles that contained concentrations of more than 0.1% of any one of five phthalates, but remanded the rule to the Commission to address two proced...
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed, 7-2, a circuit court ruling that draft biological opinions were not exempt from a FOIA request related to FWS' and NMFS' consultations with EPA for a proposed rule regarding cooling water intake structures. An environmental group submitted FOIA requests for the recor...
A district court granted fishermen's motion for summary judgment in a challenge to an NMFS rule that would close their swordfish fishery if they accidentally killed or injured too many marine mammals or turtles, and vacated the rule. The fishermen argued the rule conflicted with three national stand...
A district court denied environmental groups' motions to enjoin an oil company from undertaking construction this winter on an oil and gas project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. One group argued BLM violated the ESA by inappropriately relying on uncertain Marine Mammal Protection Act miti...
The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Biden Administration's request to cancel arguments and suspend further proceedings in a lawsuit concerning the Trump Administration's plans to build a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border., full_html...
A district court granted a motion to preliminarily enjoin FWS from implementing its policy barring the release of captive red wolves into a recovery area in North Carolina. Environmental groups argued FWS violated §7(a)(2) of the ESA by failing to ensure that its actions were not likely to jeopardi...
A district court granted summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to EPA's decision to make its Regulatory Science rule effective immediately upon publication in the Federal Register. The groups argued EPA's decision violated the APA's 30-day notice requirement after publication of a...