California Sea Urchin Comm'n v. Bean
The Ninth Circuit upheld FWS' decision to end its 1987 sea otter translocation program. FWS created an experimental reserve population of southern sea otters some distance from the main population, but in 2012, FWS deemed the program a failure and terminated it. FWS' interpretation of the statute al...
In re Border Infrastructure Environmental Litigation
A district court upheld the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS') decision to waive the legal requirements of NEPA, ESA, and CZMA for two border wall construction projects in San Diego, California. DHS made its waiver determination under §102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant ...
Alaska Oil & Gas Ass'n v. Ross
The Ninth Circuit held that NOAA did not go beyond its authority when it took climate change into account when considering the ESA status of the Arctic ringed seal. In 2012, NOAA listed the Arctic ringed seal as threatened based on projected sea ice loss. Oil and gas companies challenged the ruling,...