A district court held that Washington state must establish reasonably available control technology (RACT) for greenhouse gas emissions. Based on its plain language, the RACT provision contained in Washington's federally approved SIP is not discretionary and requires the state's agencies to estab...

The Federal Claims Court dismissed a water district's claim that certain operating restrictions on a water project imposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service under the ESA to protect endangered steelhead trout is a physical taking entitling it to compensation under the Fifth Amendment. The res...

A California court held that the California Air Resources Board's "functional equivalent document" and scoping plan to reduce greenhouse gases as it relates to cap and trade complies with the California Environmental Quality Act. The court therefore lifted its May 20, 2011, peremptory writ of man...

A district court upheld the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS') decision to list the Cook Inlet beluga whale as endangered under the ESA. The state of Alaska, an oil company, and several nonprofit corporations challenged the decision, questioning the rationale behind the NFMS' decision, its ...

A district court set aside and remanded the FWS' 12-month finding that the desert bald eagle does not qualify as a distinct population segment (DPS) of bald eagles entitled to statutory protection under the ESA. In 2004, an environmental group petitioned the FWS to list desert eagles as a DPS, but t...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision vacating the FWS' decision to remove the Yellowstone distinct population segment of grizzly bears from the ESA's threatened species list. Given the lack of data indicating grizzly population stability in the face of white...