Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
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On June 27, 2024, the California First District Court of Appeal affirmed the denial of a writ petition challenging the City of Lafayette’s (City) determination that a 12-unit residential condominium building qualified for the...more
According to the USFWS press release, “the northern long-eared bat is found in 37 states in the eastern and north central United States, the District of Columbia, and all Canadian provinces from the Atlantic Coast west to the...more
The Monarch Butterfly is a species of concern, but not currently “listed” as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. In advance of the potential, and some would say likely, listing of the Monarch...more
On February 13, a sharply divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit , by a vote of 8 to 6, rejected a petition seeking an en banc rehearing of the court’s initial decision in the case of Markel Interests, LLC, et...more
On October 11, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the U.S. Forest Service’s (“Forest Service”) petition for writ of certiorari to review the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Cottonwood Environmental...more
A new Endangered Species Act rule protecting the northern long-eared bat will likely have only limited impact on development and land use activities in Massachusetts due to fairly specific restrictions imposed by the final...more
Developers have to deal with a number of environmental issues. These include stormwater management and potential impacts to wetlands, historic resources, and threatened and endangered species. The northern long-eared bat is...more
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service determined on October 5, 2015 that the Sonoran Desert Tortoise, found primarily in Arizona, does not qualify as either an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered...more
On April 2, 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Fish & Wildlife) issued a final rule listing the Northern Long-Eared Bat (NLEB) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This listing took effect...more
On December 17, 2012, the National Association of Home Builders, the Olympia Master Builders, the Home Builder Association of Greater Austin, and the Texas Salamander Coalition, Inc., filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and...more
On December 11, 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposed listing four subspecies of the Mazama pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Service also proposed...more
On November 30, 2012, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California held that because the National Marine Fisheries Service had considered the economic impacts of designating certain areas as...more