A district court granted in part a fishing union's motion for preliminary injunction in a challenge to NOAA's partial seasonal closure of a Maine lobster fishery to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. The union argued the rule was an arbitrary and capricious application of the Marine Mam...

A district court declined to reconsider its previous order granting summary judgment for environmental groups in an ongoing dispute over a Hawaii county's release of pollutants into injection wells at a wastewater facility near the Pacific Ocean. The groups had argued the county violated the CWA by ...

A district court granted in part and denied in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to FWS' recovery plan for the Mexican gray wolf. The groups argued the plan violated the ESA by failing to include site-specific management actions for conservation and objective, mea...

The Tenth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to the Service's redaction of importer names in response to FOIA requests regarding the import of African elephant and giraffe parts. The appellate court concluded that withholding importers' names under ...

A district court granted researchers' and primate importers' motions to intervene in a lawsuit brought by a nonprofit group seeking FOIA disclosure of FWS records regarding the import and export of wildlife. The group challenged the Service's redaction of certain information pursuant to a FOIA exemp...

The Ninth Circuit remanded a summary judgment order in a challenge to EPA's approval of Montana's variance request from approved water quality standards adopted under the CWA. An environmental group argued the Agency's approval of the variance violated the APA. A district court granted partial vacat...

A district court granted EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers' motion to voluntarily remand the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, and granted the Navajo Nation's request that remand include vacatur. The court found the agencies' own findings demonstrated that "allowing the Rule to remain in place upo...

The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, vacated summary judgment for a California city in a RCRA citizen suit brought by an environmental group. The group had argued the city's water wells were contaminated by hexavalent chromium that was in turn transported to city residents through its water distribution system. ...

A district court held that BLM's 2018 decision to auction oil and gas leases on federally owned land in Colorado violated NEPA. Environmental groups argued the decision had failed to consider more accurate air monitoring data and modeling that became available after the 2017 EA on which it relied wa...

A district court dismissed a lawsuit brought by Catholic nuns seeking monetary damages for property taken by the Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline. The nuns argued that construction and operation of the pipeline through land they owned would violate their free exercise of religion protected by t...