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The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently ruled that the EPA violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in granting the state of Florida Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permitting authority. The court’s order in the case, Center for Biological Diversity et. al., v. Michael S. Regan et al., vacates the Sunshine […]
Biden administration officials announced final regulations to allow the easier relocation of animals and plants outside of their historical habitats. This action is considered a last resort measure for species that are on the verge of extinction due to climate change. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized revisions to section 10(j) regulations under […]
The EPA has struggled, and mostly failed, for many years to meet its obligations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to protect endangered species from pesticides. “EPA has an opportunity and an obligation to improve how it meets its duties under the [ESA] when it registers pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act […]
Abandoning decades-long practices, on January 11, 2022, the EPA announced it is taking meaningful actions to comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) before registering new active ingredients (AI) in pesticides. Moving forward, before the Agency registers any new conventional AI, it will evaluate the potential effects of the AI on federally threatened or endangered […]
Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the EPA is required to conduct biological evaluations (BEs) of pesticides to determine their effects on endangered and threatened species (listed species) and their critical habitats. The Agency has now issued a nonregulatory method for conducting BEs.
The Trump administration has issued three final rules that together may constitute the most sweeping revisions yet made to regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The revisions specifically clarify procedures and criteria used to add species to or remove them from the lists of endangered and threatened species and to designate species’ critical habitats; […]
In a case centering on the EPA’s final rule for cooling water intake structures (CWIS) (August 15, 2014, Federal Register (FR)), a panel of judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit found that two federal agencies with whom the EPA consulted were not entitled to deny the release of certain documents […]
The EPA’s promulgation of multiple rules since 2001 to protect aquatic species that get swept into (entrainment) and against (impingement) industrial cooling water intake structures (CWISs) has met with legal challenges from both environmental groups and industry.
Two environmental groups have filed a suit in a U.S. District Court against the Department of the Interior (DOI) for allegedly failing to comply with federal law regarding the impact of hydraulic fracturing and acidizing being conducted at oil production platforms in California’s Santa Barbara Channel.
What Is the ESA? The ESA has been one of the more contentious environmental laws. This may stem from its strict substantive provisions, which can affect the use of both federal and nonfederal lands and resources. The Act defines “endangered” as “any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion […]