The court affirms a district court order lifting a temporary restraining order and denying environmental groups' motion to permanently enjoin the construction of a new school on property that allegedly contains potential habitat for the endangered cactus ferruginous pygmy owl. The court first holds ...

The court holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS') petition management guidance policy violated the plain terms of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and that the Secretary of the Interior improperly relied on the policy when she refused to issue 12-month findings in response to the grou...

The court holds that property owners and residents failed to satisfy Endangered Species Act (ESA) §11 notice requirements in their suit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) concerning an emergency housing project's alleged taking of endangered and threatened turtle species, but th...

The court holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) arbitrarily and capriciously listed several subpopulations of bull trout as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 1994, FWS concluded that listing the bull trout as a species was warranted but precluded. Then, in response ...

The court vacates two Court of International Trade orders that were issued after an environmental group withdrew its motion to enforce the Court of International Trade's ruling pertaining to the enforcement of turtle excluder device regulations under §609 of the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Justic...

The court holds that various federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in their preparations of biological assessments (BAs), biological opinions (BOs), and environmental impact statements (EIS) with respect to the survival of the Son...

A district court upheld the FWS's determination that sport-hunted polar bear trophies may no longer be imported into the United States under the Marine Mammals Protection Act (MMPA) as of the effective date of the ESA listing rule for the species. In May 2008, the FWS determined threatened status fo...

A district court held that the FWS violated NEPA, but not the ESA, when it issued a special rule that specifies the protective mechanisms that apply to the polar bear as a result of its threatened status. In May 2008, the FWS listed the polar bear as threatened under the ESA. The Service then issued...

The court holds that the district court erred in holding that environmental groups lack standing in their Federal Water Pollution Control Act citizen suit challenging the Department of Energy's (DOE's) proposed reopening of a nuclear reactor at the Savannah River site in South Carolina. The reactor ...

The court denies a suggestion for rehearing en banc of its prior decision in Natural Resources Defense Council v. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 22 ELR 21381, which held that the Board's regulation allowing it to close meetings, or portions of meetings, concerning its recommendations relat...