Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
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On February 28, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) denial of a petition filed by the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association (Cattle Growers) urging...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed listing the northwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) and the southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys pallida) as threatened species under the federal Endangered Species...more
The Center for Biological Diversity (“CBD”) filed a September 27th Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”) in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the United States Fish...more
I can hear the music in my ear, and the voice: “Space, the final frontier… “. Endangered and threatened species are destined to boldly go where none of them has gone before – habitats outside of their historical range....more
On October 18, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced 12-month findings on a petition to list three California-based salamander species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA): the Kern Plateau salamander...more
On June 7, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a proposed rule titled, “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Experimental Populations.” In issuing the proposed rule, FWS re-affirms its...more
On December 22, 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposed to list the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl (Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum) (Owl) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) primarily due...more
On Monday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a final rule delisting the now-recovered Cumberland sandwort (Arenaria cumberlandensis) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Originally listed as endangered in...more
On January 20, 2021, President Biden announced his administration will review regulatory actions taken between January 17, 2020 and January 20, 2021 in accordance with an Executive Order titled “Protecting Public Health and...more
Biden orders review and reversal of over 100 Trump administration environmental regulations - The New York Times – January 20 - President Joe Biden this Wednesday recommitted the United States to the Paris climate...more
Biden picks North Carolina environmental chief to lead EPA - Associated Press – December 17 - President-elect Joe Biden this Thursday selected Michael S. Regan to serve as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental...more
U.S. formally exits Paris Climate Agreement - Bullet Associated Press – November 4 - The United States this Wednesday formally left the Paris Climate Agreement, a global pact it helped forge five years ago during the...more
Federal court rejects attempt to toss endangered species lawsuit - Bullet The Hill – May 19 - On Monday, Judge Jon Tigar, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, denied the federal...more
On October 7, 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the agency’s 12-month findings that a dozen species are not warranted for listing as endangered or threatened...more
SEC Drops Probe of Exxon's Accounting Practices - "The Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped its probe into whether ExxonMobil misled investors about its knowledge of climate change and the potential effects on...more
On July 19, 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, and collectively with FWS, the Services) announced several proposed changes to the regulations implementing the...more
The drumbeat of cases, either approving agency action under the ESA – or reversing agency refusal to act – due to habitat alteration resulting from climate change continues to grow. In February, the 9th Circuit reversed a...more
As we noted in this space in April, Judge Dana Christensen vacated the Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to withdraw its proposed listing of a distinct population segment of the North American wolverine as threatened under...more
The courts continue to be busy issuing significant Endangered Species Act (ESA) rulings. In the latest one, issued in early wolverineApril, the U.S. District Court for Montana, Missoula Division, in Defenders of Wildlife v....more
Under the Endangered Species Act, a species is “threatened” when it is “likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future.” As scientists continue to predict that climate change will alter habitat over the...more
On April 4, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana vacated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) August 13, 2014 withdrawal of its proposed rule to list the distinct population segment of the North...more
On June 15, 2015, Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, sent a...more
Mexican Federal Congress Approves Important Constitutional Energy Reform Bill - Energy Legal Blog, December 13, 2013 - As we previously reported, on August 12, 2013, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto...more