A district court held that FWS' decision to list the northern long-eared bat as threatened rather than endangered under the ESA was arbitrary and capricious. Environmental groups argued that the rationale FWS relied on to reach its decision—that the species had not yet suffered declines and appear...
The Tenth Circuit vacated EPA orders that granted extensions of exemptions under the CAA's renewable fuels program for three small refineries. Industry groups challenged the orders, arguing that EPA failed to honor the statutory requirement of an "extension" by confusing an extension of an exemption...
The Endangered Species Act defines an endangered species as one at risk of extinction “throughout all or a significant portion of its range.” The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has repeatedly defined “significant portion” to mean an area of the range essential to species persistence. This definition is redundant, and various iterations of the definition have been struck down in the past. At the same time, other proposals to list a species only in a portion of its range fail to satisfy the statutory requirements.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated a lower court ruling that found an energy developer trespassed on neighboring landowners' property by extracting natural gas from their property by way of hydraulic fracturing without permission. The developer argued that the extraction did not amount to trespa...
The Tenth Circuit held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was not required to consult with FWS about alternative water management policies in the Rio Grande River that would help protect the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and the Rio Grande silvery minnow. An environmental group argued...