Environmental Law › Administrative Law

A Nice, Straightforward Administrative Law Decision: HHS’s Decision to List Styrene as Reasonably Anticipated to Cause Cancer is...

Last week, in Styrene Information and Research Center v. Sebelius, Judge Reggie Walton of the District Court for the District of Columbia rejected challenges to the decision by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to list styrene...more

NJ Assembly Approves Bill Granting Final Decision-Making Power to Office of Administrative Law

In an effort to streamline administrative law hearings, the New Jersey Assembly recently approved a bill granting the Office of Administrative Law final agency decision-making power in certain contested state agency cases,...more

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise: An Agency Cannot Revise Regulations In a Consent Decree

In a decision that should not have come as a surprise to anyone, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday, in Conservation Northwest v. Sherman, that the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies implementing the...more

Do We Really Have A Section 404 Permit?

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an opinion on April 23 in Mingo Logan Coal Co. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency upholding the Environmental Protection Agency’s...more

Warrantless Inspections are Not Warranted under the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act

The New Jersey Supreme Court recently held that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) may not conduct a warrantless administrative inspection of a residential property subject to a Freshwater Wetlands...more

Supreme Court Willing to Reconsider Deference to Administrative Agencies

Most of the federal government's authority is exercised, on a day-to-day basis, through its administrative agencies. Central to the efficiency of those agencies — such as it is — is the judiciary's substantial deference to...more

Legislative Update Report - Apr 12, 2013

Federal Government Regulations: Canada Gazette, Part II, March 27, 2013: Contraventions Act - SOR/2013-41 Regulations Amending the Application of Provincial Laws Regulations. Farm Products...more

Federal Court Denies Joint Motion For Consent Decree Regarding The Marbled Murrelet

In American Forest Resources Council v. Ashe, 1:12-cv-00111 (D.D.C. Mar. 30, 2013), the United States District Court for the District of Columbia denied a joint motion for a consent decree regarding the critical habitat...more

Sue and Settle – The Growing Problem of Closed-Door Rulemaking

So-called “sue and settle” tactics are becoming an increasingly popular, problematic, and oftentimes successful litigation strategy used by pro-regulatory environmental groups. Because these groups, as well as regulators, are...more

Justices Question Agency Deference Doctrine

On March 20, an environmental case before the Supreme Court spurred two opinions from three Justices that question the continuing vitality of the agency deference doctrine known as Auer deference. Decker v. Nw. Envtl. Defense...more

City of Tombstone v. United States

BRIEF OF THE CATO INSTITUTE, THE RIO GRANDE FOUNDATION, THE MONTANA POLICY INSTITUTE, THE IDAHO FREEDOM FOUNDATION, AND THE...

This brief addresses whether the City of Tombstone is likely to succeed on its claim that its ability to access and repair the sources of its municipal water located on federal land is not trumped by the federal government’s...more

U.S. District Court Holds U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service's Decision To Delay Revisions To Critical Habitat Is Not Judicially...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) prevailed on March 19th in a suit brought by the Sierra Club challenging a decision by the Service to delay revision of the critical habitat designation for the leatherback sea...more

U.S. District Court Denies Motion To Limit ESA Claims To Administrative Record

In Conservation Congress v. U.S. Forest Service, No. CIV. 2:12-02416 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 26, 2013), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California denied a motion brought by the U.S. Forest Service and...more

U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service Approves Habitat Conservation Plan

On February 14, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it had approved a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and incidental take permit (ITP) for the Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program. In addition...more

U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service Designates 9,600 Acres Of Critical Habitat For Coachella Valley Milk Vetch

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) designated approximately 9,600 acres as critical habitat for the endangered Coachella Valley milk vetch (Astragalus lentifinosus var. coachellae). The critical habitat designation...more

California Fish And Game Commission Makes Great White Shark A Candidate Under California Endangered Species Act

On February 6, 2013, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) voted to make the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) a candidate for protection under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The...more

District Court Upholds Federal Grant Of Right-Of-Way To Private Wind Energy Developer

In Sierra Club v. Kenna, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4743, *1 (January 11, 2013), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California upheld the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) grant of right-of-way over...more

Washington State District Court Holds Claims Brought Under Citizen Suit Provision Of The Endangered Species Act Are Not Limited To...

In Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11955, *1 (Jan. 28, 2013), the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington held that...more

Proposed Rule Would Regulate U.S. Navy's Impact On Marine Mammals

On January 31, 2013, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a proposed rule to regulate the impact of United States Navy exercises on marine mammals. The rule would affect areas off the Southern California,...more

Service Proposes To List Wolverine As Threatened Species

On February 1, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its proposal to list the wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The proposed listing is the result of a...more

U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service Issues Proposed Rule To List Zuni Bluehead Sucker As Endangered

On January 25, 2013, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a proposed rule to list the Zuni bluehead sucker (Catostomus discobolus yarrowi) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The...more

Court Vacates Critical Habitat Designation For Polar Bear

On January 10, 2013, the United States District Court for the District of Alaska issued an order vacating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's critical habitat designation for the polar bear after concluding that the Service...more

What is the "relevant parcel" in a regulatory takings case?

In Lost Tree Village Corporation v. United States, the Federal Circuit addressed this question head on, concluding, to the surprise of no one, that the answer will largely depend upon the unique facts in each case. ...more

California Lawmakers Propose Bill To Address Federal Policy Regarding Tree-Removal On Levees

On January 23, 2013, over 25 California delegates to the House of Representatives introduced a bill, H.R. 399, addressing the federal rules requiring trees growing on levees to be removed. Specifically, the bill would require...more

Court Rejects Challenge to California’s Carbon Offsets Program

A California state judge in San Francisco has rejected a challenge to California’s carbon offsets program, ruling that regulators have the authority to include the mechanism in the cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases....more