On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively, Services) published a final rule rescinding the Trump administration’s 2020 final rule defining “habitat” for the...more
This week, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rule rescinding the rule issued in 2020 defining “habitat” for the purposes of determining what constitutes “critical...more
This week, I published a post on the Center for California Water Resources Policy and Management’s DeltaCurrents blog discussing the Biden Administration’s proposal to rescind the definition of habitat. ...more
On June 4, 2021, the Biden Administration announced its intent to rescind or revise several implementing regulations for the Endangered Species Act (ESA) finalized under the prior administration. ...more
On September 8, 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) published a proposed rule codifying procedures for excluding areas of “critical habitat” under section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). ESA section...more
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Weyerhaeuser Co. v. U.S. FWS, 139 S.Ct. 361 (2018), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has issued a series of proposals to refine the scope, meaning, and...more
The Departments of Commerce and the Interior (Departments) have completed a proposed rule to define the term “habitat” as that term is used in the context of designating “critical habitat” under section 7(a)(2) of the...more
The Supreme Court has handed down one of the most anticipated Endangered Species Act (ESA) rulings in recent years. In Weyerhaeuser Co. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serv., the Supreme Court unanimously overruled the Fifth...more
In a victory for landowners and other regulated entities, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously limited the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s discretion when designating critical habitat under the federal Endangered Species Act....more
You don’t see a unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court very often, especially in an environmental case, but that’s what happened this week when the Court held that for an area to be “critical habitat” of an...more
In a unanimous decision with immediate repercussions for the administration of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Supreme Court held that an area is eligible for designation as critical habitat under the ESA only if...more
An area designated as critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act must first qualify as “habitat” for listed species, the Supreme Court held this week in the closely watched Weyerhaeuser case. The Court’s November 27,...more
On November 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an area is eligible to be designated as “critical habitat” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) only if the area is habitat for the relevant threatened or endangered...more
The Business Standard reported on a new method to purify water using sunlight. Reuters reported on a Supreme Court decision on the Endangered Species Act. The Minneapolis Star Tribune discussed soybean storage issues as...more
On June 29, 2018 and October 8, 2018, we blogged about the dusky gopher frog, an endangered species currently confined to a small area of Mississippi. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service designated land in Louisiana as part of...more
In a unanimous decision (with Justice Kavanaugh not participating), the Supreme Court on November 27, 2018, remanded a controversial Endangered Species Act (ESA) decision for further consideration by the Fifth Circuit Court...more
On November 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Weyerhaeuser Company v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, No. 17-71, holding that (1) an area is eligible for designation as a “critical habitat” under the...more
State Attorneys General (“AGs”) continue to be active as both litigants and amici in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. This term there are several cases with significant State AG amici involvement that implicate important...more
On October 1, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the first case of its new term, Weyerhaeuser Co. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Dkt. No. 17-71. The case concerns the designation of critical habitat under...more
The last several days have seen a flurry of activity in the federal courts in matters involving the Endangered Species Act (ESA)...more
As we reported here, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review of the petition for writ of certiorari in Weyerhaeuser Co. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, No. 17-71, on January 22, 2018. ...more
The Supreme Court (the Court) will soon address two recurring issues concerning administration of the Endangered Species Act, and more broadly the deference given to agency action in the discretionary exercise of statutory...more