In July 2012, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled in Natural Resources Defense Council v. Salazar, 686 F.3d 1092 (9th Cir. 2012), that the decision by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to renew a series of water service contracts in connection with the Central Valley Project did not constitute “agency action” under the Endangered … Continue Reading
The California Endangered Species Act allows interested parties to file a petition with the California Fish & Game Commission to list or delist a species as threatened or endangered. If the Commission accepts the petition, it then decides whether to take the action requested in the petition, based on a scientific report by the California Department of … Continue Reading
The California Endangered Species Act allows interested parties to file a petition with the California Fish & Game Commission to list or delist a species as threatened or endangered. If the Commission accepts the petition, it then decides whether to take the action requested in the petition, based on a scientific report on the species … Continue Reading
The Ninth Circuit has overturned a Biological Opinion issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for the Ruby Pipeline Project, a proposed natural gas pipeline that would extend nearly 700 miles from Wyoming to Oregon, encompassing almost 2,300 acres of federal land and crossing 209 rivers and streams. The Biological Opinion relied on a … Continue Reading
The Chukchi Sea off the North Slope of Alaska is a promising place for oil and gas development. But it’s also home to polar bears and walruses. This clash of interests led to a lawsuit by two environmental groups against the Fish & Wildlife Service, decided by the Ninth Circuit in the Service’s – and … Continue Reading
On July 17, 2012, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled in Natural Resources Defense Council v. Salazar that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s renewal of water delivery contracts with senior priority water rights holders was not “agency action” under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The panel held that because the Bureau … Continue Reading
In a recent post [“When is a Wetland a Wetland — and How Do We Find Out?“] we described the significant uncertainties in ascertaining the reach of the Clean Water Act over wetlands, ponds, drainage ditches and other small aquatic features only remotely connected to navigable waterways such as rivers and lakes. On June 12, the debate … Continue Reading
The Ninth Circuit is at center stage again in the debate over the interpretation and enforcement of federal environmental laws. In a sharply divided 7-4 en banc decision, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the U.S. Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by allowing recreational gold mining activities in the Klamath National Forest in … Continue Reading
In recent years, two United States Supreme Court decisions have significantly reduced the scope of federal wetlands jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 531 U.S. 159 (2001); Rapanos v. United States, 547 U.S. 715 (2006). In SWANCC, the Court ruled the … Continue Reading
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tries to encourage landowners to take voluntary steps to benefit species that might become threatened or endangered. The hope is that the landowners’ conservation actions will prevent the species from declining to the point that listing is required. But as USFWS has recognized, the beneficial actions of one or … Continue Reading
Over the course of a decade, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s repeated attempts to “delist” a portion of the Rocky Mountain gray wolf population from the Endangered Species Act were rebuffed by the courts. So, the proponents of the delisting turned to Congress. The result was section 1713 of the 2011 Appropriations Act, which … Continue Reading
