Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ 10 Most Important Environmental Law Decisions of 2022
Issues of climate change, water rights, environmental justice and federalism highlighted this year’s 9th Circuit Court’s stunning environmental docket
In a previous post, I shared my view that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is the most influential court in the nation, after the U.S. Supreme Court, when it comes to environmental and natural resource law. There are two related reasons for this. First, the sprawling Ninth Circuit includes nine different states (including California) and several territories in the western United States, which together contribute to considerable environmental litigation. causing it. Second, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit regularly issues more environmental law decisions than any of the other 12 Courts of Appeals for the Circuit.
The trend will continue in 2022, with the Ninth Circuit issuing more than 50 public environmental decisions. As you bid farewell to 2022, consider my list of the 10 most important of these decisions in chronological order. , offshore oil drilling, environmental federalism, national environmental policy laws, poisons regulation and enforcement, animal welfare laws, and endangered species laws.
Navajo vs U.S. Department of the Interior (2/17/2022) – In this high-profile Water Act/Environmental Justice case, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Navajo may proceed with a “violation of trust” lawsuit against the Department of the Interior, Disputed allegations that the DOI allegedly failed to consider. Pending federal water rights to the Colorado River Basin. The Court of Appeals rejected DOI’s and Arizona’s, Colorado’s, and Nevada’s arguments that the Navajo’s claim of reserved water rights lacks a clear federal law or treaty basis. (At a time when drought and climate change have pushed the Colorado River to record low levels of water, the state’s claim to reserved and previously unrecognized water rights has forced the Colorado River Basin, a host of indigenous peoples, into the watershed. The United States tribes and two nations are currently at odds.) But the lawsuit isn’t over yet.
Friends of Animals v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (March 4, 2022) – In this Endangered Species Protection Act case, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the USFWS’s experimental “owl extermination project” was to destroy the listed spotted owl’s habitat. It ruled that an owl could be “captured” by accident to protect it. Spotted Owl Net Conservation Interest” and therefore permitted under the ESA. The court also ruled that the experimental program does not require the creation of a new environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges v. Haaland (March 16, 2022) – Perhaps the most widely reported Ninth Court of Appeals environmental decision of the year, Wilderness Conservation Group and its residents argued for new roads to advance their health, safety and economic needs. It was about a conflict between an Alaska Native village seeking the construction of a A split panel of three judges sought Trump-era federal approval for a land exchange designed to expedite the construction of a congressional-designated wilderness road within Alaska’s Isenbek National Wildlife Refuge. supported. (The case gained notoriety in part because former President Jimmy Carter filed a friend-of-court opinion supporting a failed coalition of environmental plaintiffs.) navajo Case Above – This Case Has Not Been Closed: Last Month, The Ninth Circuit Acknowledged en Bank That is, it will be reviewed by the Court’s 11-member panel of judges.
California Chamber of Commerce vs. Poison Education and Research Council (March 17, 2022) – This California Proposition 65 case is a long-running legal and scientific debate about whether acrylamide, a naturally occurring chemical found in some foods and coffee, causes cancer. Controversial. Given the sharp disagreement among scientific experts on the issue, a divided Ninth Circuit panel said the California Chamber of Commerce ruled that the warnings mandated by Proposition 65 on foods containing acrylamide should not be used. It ruled that it was likely to prevail on the merits of allegations of violations of the United States’ First Amendment. US Constitution. In particular, the majority supported an injunction barring the California Attorney General and interested parties from filing lawsuits seeking Proposition 65 notices regarding food and beverage products containing acrylamide. Although this decision is the first injunction issued against the California Attorney General, the primary public enforcer of Proposition 65, it does not constitute an impermissible prior restriction under the First Amendment. I decided not.
350 Montana vs. Harland (April 4, 2022) – In this landmark National Environmental Policy Act/Climate Change Decision, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the U.S. Department of the Interior should not be persuasive about the expected greenhouse gas emissions from the proposed plan. It ruled that NEPA was violated by failing to provide a statement.Expansion of coal mines on state land – including 190 million tons of GHG 0.44% of total global GHG emissions–was not material under NEPA. The court further ruled that DOI should use the social cost of carbon to quantify the projected environmental harm of the project, and for the expansion of the mine, he was entitled to an environmental impact under NEPA. We have remanded the case to the District Court to determine if a statement is required. project proposal.
San Mateo County v. Chevron Corp. (2022/4/19)/City and County of Honolulu v. Sunoco (July 7, 2022) – These related decisions represent the latest chapter in a long-running effort by state and local governments to pursue state-law tort claims against fossil fuel companies and address them. I am seeking compensation for the costs incurred in doing so. The damage they and their members allegedly suffered as a result of climate change.of San Mateo The lawsuit was the first in a nationwide flood of climate change-related lawsuits. California municipal plaintiffs sued in state court, while industry defendants sought to dismiss their cases in federal court, hoping for a more favorable judicial reception in federal court. , concluded that Defendant’s submission of the action in federal court was improper and remanded the action to California state court for resolution on the merits. Three months later, the Ninth Circuit reached the same result and remanded the relevant judgment. Honolulu The climate change lawsuit will be remanded to Hawaii state court.
Natural Resources Defense Council v. US Environmental Protection Agency (April 20, 2022) – In a separate case regarding Trump-era environmental regulation decisions, the Ninth Circuit vacated the USEPA’s denial of the NRDC’s petition to cancel glyphosate’s EPA registration. As a flea collar. The appeals court concluded that the EPA’s decision to dismiss the petition was not supported by substantial evidence. EPA’s failure to provide a reasonable explanation for its decision. Also, the authorities made some arbitrary calculations before coming to a conclusion.
Assembly des Eleveurs de Canards v. Bonta (May 6, 2022) – This animal welfare lawsuit bans the sale of poultry products (mainly foie gras) in California resulting from force-feeding birds to make their livers larger than normal size It was involved in an industry challenge to California law that The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law, rejecting the poultry industry’s constitutional claim that California law was superseded by the Federal Poultry Inspection Act and violated the dormant commerce clause principle. (This decision is one of many recent rulings by the Ninth Circuit in favor of various California animal welfare laws. But that trend is jeopardized by pending U.S. Supreme Court litigation. Could be another California animal welfare law; Older Legal Planet Posts.)
Center for Environmental Defense v. Ocean Energy Management Agency (June 3, 2022) – In a case brought by California environmental groups and the California Coastal Commission, the Ninth Circuit has ruled that the Federal Office of Marine Energy Management (part of the U.S. Department of the Interior) should comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. determined to have violated When it determines that a federal proposal to allow offshore oil well stimulation treatments, including fracking, off the coast of California will not have a significant environmental impact. The court found that BOEM’s environmental assessment had failed to give the necessary “rigorous consideration” of the potential environmental impacts of fracking as required by NEPA, and that a full environmental impact statement was required before proceeding with the project. identified as necessary. The Commission also found that BOEM further erred by failing to consult with federal wildlife agencies as required under the ESA, as well as the state of California’s “provision of a project” mandated by the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act. It also concluded that a “consistency review” could not be pursued.
California Water Resources Board v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (August 4, 2022) – This Clean Water Act litigation involved the extent of California’s authority under CWA Section 401. This requires states to provide water quality certificates before issuing federal licenses or permits for any resulting activity. Under release to navigable waters in the state. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has received license applications for hydroelectric projects from California’s water authorities, has determined that the state of California has denied these projects due to excessive delays and inadequate cooperation with affected local water authorities. It ruled that it waived its Section 401 certification authority. However, the Ninth Circuit ruled against her FERC, concluding that California was not involved in the unreasonable delay and improperly colluded with the affected water department. . (However, this legal story may not be over. The Ninth Circuit’s decision contradicts the 2018 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in a similar Section 401 case. The Supreme Court may decide to take up this issue, resolving conflicts between circuits.)
Happy new year.
