A district court enjoined the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from leasing approximately 1.7 million acres within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for oil exploration. The lease concerns vast areas of sensitive wetlands surrounding Lake Teshekpuk that are protected under the National Petrole...
The court affirmed a lower court decision denying a motion for preliminary injunction that would require the protection of mute swans under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Act, which implements the migratory bird conventions, makes it unlawful to hunt or kill migratory birds native to the United ...
The court denied mining industry groups' and mine operators' petitions for review of three Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules regulating diesel particulate matter (DPM) in underground mines. The court rejected the petitioners' claim that the MSHA did not have sufficient evidence that...
A district court held that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) arbitrarily and capriciously denied petitions to list certain genetically engineered varieties of grasses as noxious weeds under the Plant Protection Act. APHIS' insistence that international obligations require that p...
The court held that a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) incidental take statement authorizing the taking of all northern spotted owls associated with certain proposed timber harvests in the Pacific Northwest is invalid. As a result of a prior court opinion, the FWS voluntarily reinitiated consult...
The court held that the U.S. Air Force was liable to homebuilders who had cleaned up asbestos contamination at the former Lowry Air Force Base in Denver. The homebuilders didn't discover the asbestos until after they purchased the former base property. When the Air Force refused to clean up the asbe...
The Ninth Circuit held that yellowfin tuna caught by encircling dolphins with purse-seine nets may not be labeled "dolphin-safe." Environmental groups challenged the Secretary of Commerce's finding that tuna caught with purse-seine nets does not have an adverse impact on dolphin populations. But the...
The Ninth Circuit vacated a lower court decision granting in part and denying in part cross-motions for summary judgment in a case concerning the validity of the federal government's policy for listing killer whales under the Endangered Species Act. Since the lower court issued its decision, the Nat...
The Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court decision invalidating U.S. Forest Service regulations governing the review of decisions implementing forest plans, but remanded the court's judgment with respect to the remaining challenged regulations on ripeness grounds. Only two of the regulations, 36 C.F.R....
A district court held that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Fisheries (NOAA-Fisheries) did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it chose not to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) or environmental assessment for its Hatchery Listing Policy (HLP) fo...