Endangered Species Law & Policy

Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit the decision of a lower court to vacate nationwide permit 12 (NWP 12) until the Corps completes consultation under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The case stems from controversy surrounding the Keystone XL pipeline. As previously reported on this blog, on May 11, 2020, the lower court amended its original order vacating NWP 12 for all purposes by limiting the vacatur only to new oil and gas pipeline construction. The court’s amended order allows use of NWP ...

As reported earlier today by Emily Yehle of Greenwire, if the U.S. Government fails to avoid a government shutdown before tomorrow, a number of federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of the Interior are planning to "pull the plug on their online presence."  (E&ENewsPM, Sept. 30, 2013).  You may ask, what other impacts will there be as a result of the impending government shutdown?  While, according to the Department of the Interior's website (pdf), as a general matter "Service employees will not continue to work" on court ordered ...