A federal court has thrown out key Endangered Species Act (ESA) analyses of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico, which will be vacated as of Dec. 20, 2024. The United States District Court for the District of...more
On May 23, 2024, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a published opinion in Natural Resources Defense Council et al. v. Debra Haaland et al. (Case No. 21-15163) (“NRDC v. Haaland”) rejecting the plaintiffs’ challenges...more
In companion rulings favoring offshore wind developers and federal agencies, the First Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed rulings issued by the District Court (D. Mass.) and dismissed challenges brought by two...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (together the Services) have issued three final rules effective May 6, 2024...more
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of two legal challenges to the Vineyard Wind 1 project (the Project). On April 24 and April 25, 2024, the same panel of First Circuit judges issued...more
On April 5, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services) finalized three sets of revisions to the regulations implementing the Endangered...more
On March 27, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services) issued three sets of final rules revising the Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations. The...more
On April 5, 2024, The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) (collectively, the “Services”) finalized a series of rules reversing certain revisions to the Services’...more
The Endangered Species Act regulations have become a political hot potato, with regulatory revisions occurring each time there is a change in administration. On March 28, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the...more
The National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) (together, the “Services”) have released three final rules related to implementation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The...more
On March 27, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services) made available pre-publication versions of the agencies’ long-awaited updates to...more
On March 18, three advocacy organizations and their members filed a lawsuit challenging an offshore wind project against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 15, 2024, issued an order vacating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approval of the state of Florida's application to assume permitting authority...more
On November 13, two advocacy organizations submitted a notice of intent to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The notice letter alleges that the September 18,...more
On Thursday, October 12, 2023, Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment in favor of the United States Department of the Interior and Vineyard Wind, and denied...more
Last month, Judge John Hunderaker held that the Endangered Species Act requires EPA to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service before issuing recommended water quality criteria. ...more
The United States District Court for the District of Arizona (“Court”) addressed in an August 18th Order an alleged violation by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”)....more
On June 22, 2023, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (together “the Services”) issued three proposals largely aimed at undoing the Trump administration’s recent regulatory...more
On June 22, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services), issued three sets of proposed revisions to their Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations...more
On June 16, 2023, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled unanimously that the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”), when faced with insufficient data, cannot rely on...more
Two recent developments may have meaningful impacts on the implementation of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). First, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Maine Lobstermen’s Association v....more
On June 22, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) and National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) (collectively, “the Services”) published three proposed rules related to implementation of the Endangered Species Act...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an opinion on June 16, 2023, speaking to several important issues in administrative law. Confronting a challenge under the Endangered Species Act (ESA),...more
On June 16, 2023, in a highly anticipated decision, the United States Court of Appeal for the D.C. Circuit set aside a biological opinion regarding the effects of the federal lobster fishery on the North Atlantic right whale...more
On Wednesday, May 17, 2023, the federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment in favor of the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) and Vineyard Wind, and denied summary...more