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 Tenth Circuit, in a 120-page opinion, reversed a lower court decision setting aside and permanently enjoining the U.S. Forest Service's Roadless Area Conservation Rule. In setting aside the rule, the lower court held that the Service violated the Wilderness Act of 1964 and NEPA. But the Wilderne...

The court holds en banc that the arbitrary and capricious standard of review applies to agency decisions not to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act. The court overrules its prior decisions holding that a reasonableness standard of review should...

The court holds that the district court, in applying the rule of reason, did not abuse its discretion in dissolving an injunction when it held that the environmental impact statements (EISs) produced by the National Park Service (NPS), concerning the impact of any possible future mining activity in ...

The court, in a sequel case to Seattle Audubon Society v. Evans, 22 ELR 20372, enjoins the U.S. Forest Service from making additional timber sales in U.S. Forest Service Regions Five and Six that would log suitable habitat for the northern spotted owl until revised standards and guidelines complying...

The court holds that state and federal agencies involved in a proposed port project in Searsport, Maine, reasonably decided to restrict the analysis in an environmental impact statement (EIS) of secondary impacts from the project to four light-dry industries. The court also holds that the district c...

The court holds that the presumption against extraterritorial application of statutes does not apply where the conduct regulated by the statute occurs primarily, if not exclusively, in the United States, and the alleged extraterritorial effect of the statute will be felt in Antarctica, and remands f...