The Second Circuit affirmed an individual's conviction and sentence for knowingly importing exotic birds, African black sparrowhawks, into the United States in violation of the Wild Bird Conservation Act and for making false statements to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with regard to that import...

The Ninth Circuit vacated as moot a dispute concerning the federal government's policy for listing killer whales under the Endangered Species Act. An environmental group filed suit after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-Fisheries denied its petition to list the Southern Res...

The Ninth Circuit upheld an injunction enjoining the California Air Resources Board from enforcing state regulations that limit emissions from the auxiliary diesel engines of ocean-going vessels within 24 miles of California's coast. Clean Air Act (CAA) §209(e)(2)(A) requires California to obta...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court judgment ordering the forfeiture of 64,695 pounds of shark fins under the Shark Finning Prohibition Act. Neither the statute nor its implementing regulations provided fair notice that the vessel, which purchased the fins at sea from other vessels, would be co...

A district court ordered the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to publish a final listing determination for the polar bear by May 15, 2008. The parties agreed that the DOI failed to meet its nondiscretionary duty under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) §4 to act on the proposed rule within o...

The Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded a lower court decision dismissing a Native American tribe member's indictment for shooting an eagle without a permit in violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Act. The lower court ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act precluded the government from p...

The D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court decision upholding NOAA-Fisheries' denial of an emergency rulemaking petition concerning the protection of the North Atlantic right whale, but remanded its dismissal of claims concerning the U.S. Coast Guard's failure to consider the impact of some of its acti...

A district court held that the applicable legal test for the "routine maintenance, repair, and replacement" exclusions found in the Clean Air Act (CAA) should be applied to activities that are considered "routine in the industry" rather than "routine at the unit." In a CAA enforcement action filed a...

The court affirms a district court's orders denying environmental groups' motions to enjoin timber sales as violative of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (WSRA) and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The court first holds that the district court properly denied the environmental groups' motions to ...

The Court holds that a landfill constructed on land ceded from the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota by an 1894 Act that diminished the boundaries of the reservation is not subject to federal environmental regulation. The Court first holds that the 1894 Act—a negotiated agreement providing...