A district court held that oil and gas companies should not be criminally charged under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) for the death of migratory birds found in North Dakota oil fields. The MBTA, as broadly interpreted by the U.S. government, offers unlimited potential for criminal prosec...

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...