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...

A district court dismissed the U.S. government's lawsuit against the current and former owners of a coal-fired power plant in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, for alleged CAA violations. The government alleged that the former owners undertook construction projects at the plant without having obtain...

The court holds that timber companies and an industry trade association lack standing to bring claims under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) challenging actions by the U.S. Forest Service to protect the red-...

The court holds that environmental groups and private individuals are not entitled to a preliminary injunction prohibiting the U.S. Forest Service from implementing animal damage control (ADC) plans to reduce coyote populations in the Dixie and the Fishlake National Forests in Utah. The ADC programs...

The court holds that an electric power cooperative, metal corporations, and a nonprofit corporation representing consumer-owned electric utilities lack standing to challenge the decision of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and other federal agencies to augment water flow over dams on the...

The court holds that the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) does not violate the Free Exercise or Establishment Clauses of the U.S. Constitution and, therefore, affirmed an individual's conviction for possessing eagle feathers without a permit. The BGEPA prohibits the taking or possession ...

The court holds that the take provision of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as applied to landowners, does not violate the U.S. Commerce Clause. After purchasing property, the landowners sought to develop it, but were prevented from doing so because of the restrictions placed on the land under the ...

The court holds that the Endangered Species Act's (ESA's) application to private lands in order to protect an endangered species that lives entirely within one state does not violate the U.S. Commerce Clause. The court first holds that the regulated activity in question—construction of a housing d...

The court denies most of oil companies' motions to dismiss in a class action suit brought by individual well owners claiming that the companies knowingly caused methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) contamination of their groundwater. The court first holds that the claims of several of the class partic...

The court holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by issuing incidental take statements imposing terms and conditions on grazing permits sought by a cattle growers' association where there was either no evidence that the endangered species exis...