The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in a challenge to regulations promulgated by the Commission that restricted where and how Florida-registered fishing vessels could harvest Florida pompano in federal waters in the Gulf of Mex...
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of a motion to temporarily enjoin construction on a real estate development project in South Carolina. Environmental groups argued the CWA §404 permit issued for the project violated the ESA by using a habitat surrogate to set the level of antic...
The Fourth Circuit vacated a district court order that denied a motion to preliminarily enjoin the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's recommended fishery management plan (FMP) for striped bass. A trade group, a group of charter boat captains, and two individuals operating in Maryland sued...
A district court granted the Biden Administration's motion to dismiss a challenge to the president's 2023 designation of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. The Arizona state legislature, a cattle rancher, and other plaintiffs argued Proclamatio...
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of a motion to remand to state court a lawsuit concerning oil and gas production in New Orleans. The city of New Orleans sued several pipeline operators and a natural gas utility in state court, arguing they violated Louisiana's State and Local Co...
The Second Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in a challenge to enforcement of regulations prohibiting the harvesting of American glass eels. An Indian tribe sued DEC and its commissioner, arguing a 1676 agreement between the Royal...
The First Circuit reversed a district court ruling in a challenge to NMFS' 2024 rule finalizing a 2022 emergency rule that seasonally banned vertical buoy lines used in lobster and Jonah crab trap fishing from certain federal waters off Massachusetts to reduce risk of injury or death to the endanger...
A district court granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for an environmental group in a lawsuit concerning NMFS' approval of a management plan proposed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for releasing hatchery-raised fish into the Upper Willamette River. The group argued NMFS...
The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part two district court rulings in lawsuits concerning policies governing oil and gas lease sales conducted by BLM on protected sage-grouse habitat. Environmental groups filed suit in Idaho and Montana, challenging certain sales conducted under guid...
The D.C. Circuit vacated the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA's) 2020 rule authorizing the transportation of liquefied natural gas by rail in newly designed tank cars without a permit. Environmental groups, several states, and an Indian tribe petitioned for review, arg...