Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its intention to hear a hotly-contested Endangered Species Act (ESA) case involving the “dusky gopher frog.” This frog’scritical habitat was determined by the lower courts to include areas in Louisiana although the species allegedly has not been seen there for many years. The Court’s…
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in National Assoc. of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense, et al. (the WOTUS case). The Court held that the plain language of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that appeals of such Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules as the redefinition of…
On December 22, 2017, the Office of the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior issued a Memorandum re: The Migratory Bird Treaty Act Does Not Prohibit Incidental Take, which substantially modifies the Department’s policy regarding the criminal enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act’s (MBTA) prohibition against the incidental…
On December 18, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit employed recent U.S. Supreme Court Administrative Procedure Act (APA) rulings to decide whether the fans of the “Insane Clown Posse” group known as Juggalos could maintain an APA lawsuit against the federal government’s listing of the fans…
On December 18, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals or the Second Circuit decided the case of Secretary of Labor v. Cranesville Aggregate Companies, Inc., dba Scotia Bag Plant. In this case, the Secretary of Labor sought review of an Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) decision that vacated a number of Occupational…
On December 22, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a unanimous opinion upholding most of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) 2016 revised workplace standard for respirable crystalline silica, 29 C.F.R § 1910.1053(a)(1). The case is North America’s Building Trades Unions v. OSHA. The new rule…
On December 27, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted a petition seeking a writ of mandamus to compel the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promptly commence and conclude a long-promised rulemaking to consider reducing the existing household lead-dust levels that primarily affect children. Judge Schroeder…
Last March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit revered the District Court’s ruling that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) could not subject the Utah Prairie Dog to Endangered Species Act-protected status because it was an intrastate species found only in Utah and not on federal…
On December 29, 2017, the Montana Supreme Court decided an important Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), known also as Superfund, case involving the application of Montana state law in an ongoing federal CERCLA cleanup effort. The case is Atlantic Richfield Company v. Montana Second Judicial District Court. Atlantic Richfield…
In late December 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued two significant administrative law decisions in the cases of Safari Club Int’l and Nat’l Rifle Assoc. of Am. v. Zinke (decided December 22, 2017) and Clarian Health West, LLC, v. Hargan (decided December 26,…