Description: Lawsuit to compel classification of nine species as endangered or threatened and designation of critical habitat for 10 listed species.
-
Center for Biological Diversity v. Haaland
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 07/28/2023 Order Download Court granted stipulated settlement agreement regarding 55 species. 07/24/2023 Settlement Agreement Download Parties submitted stipulated settlement agreement regarding 55 species. Center for Biological Diversity and Federal Defendants Reached Settlement for 55 Species. The federal district court for the District of Columbia approved a stipulated settlement agreement that resolved Center for Biological Diversity’s claims with respect to 55 species that were the subject of a 2020 lawsuit that sought to compel Endangered Species Act actions for a total of 274 species. For 33 species, the agreement set a schedule for 12-month findings as to whether listing as endangered or threatened was warranted. For 22 species (18 for which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had completed listing and critical habitat actions and four for which listing petitions had been withdrawn), plaintiffs’ claims were dismissed with prejudice. 03/08/2023 Memorandum Opinion Download Defendants' motion for partial dismissal granted in part and denied in part. Federal Court Allowed Endangered Species Act Claims Seeking 12-Month Findings for 192 Species to Proceed. In a lawsuit brought by Center for Biological Diversity asserting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to make listing determinations or critical habitat designations, including for climate change-threatened species, the federal district court for the District of Columbia granted in part and denied in part the defendants’ motion for partial dismissal. The court dismissed claims related to six species either because the claims were moot due to the FWS taking final action, because listing petitions had been withdrawn, or because the plaintiff did not comply with the Endangered Species Act’s notice requirements. The court rejected the argument that claims asserting a failure to make 12-month findings for 192 species were time-barred. 11/17/2022 Notice Download Notice of factual developments filed by plaintiff. 04/26/2022 Settlement Agreement Download Parties filed stipulated settlement agreement. Center for Biological Diversity and Fish and Wildlife Service Agreed to Timelines for Endangered Species Act Decision-Making, Including for Climate-Threatened Species. The Center for Biological Diversity and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) entered into settlement agreements to resolve claims that the FWS violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to complete listing determinations or to designate critical habitat for listed species. The species addressed in the litigation and in the settlements included species that the Center for Biological Diversity alleged were threatened by climate change, including the the Bethany Beach firefly, the Las Vegas bearpoppy, and the Mojave poppy bee. The settlements provided for the dismissal with prejudice of claims with respect to species for which the FWS had taken action since the lawsuits were filed. For other species, the settlements set deadlines for 12-month findings on the listings of species or proposed determinations concerning critical habitat. 04/26/2022 Settlement Agreement Download Parties filed stipulated settlement agreement regarding 83 species. 02/27/2020 Complaint Download Complaint filed. -
Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 03/15/2022 Order Case closed and parties directed to make future filings in another case (Center for Biological Diversity v. Bernhardt, No. 20-cv-573). 02/11/2022 Status Report Download Joint status report and second joint motion to continue stay filed. 08/16/2021 Order Joint motion to enter into mediation and to stay proceedings granted and case stayed pending further order of the court. 07/22/2021 Motion Download Joint motion to enter into mediation and to stay proceedings filed by the parties. 04/15/2021 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Center for Biological Diversity Sought Action on Climate Change-Threatened Species. Center for Biological Diversity filed an Endangered Species Act lawsuit in federal court in the District of Columbia to compel the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to classify nine species as endangered or threatened and to designate critical habitat for 10 listed species. The complaint alleged that the 19 species (five insects, 11 plants, a mammal, and two aquatic species) “are at risk of extinction due to habitat degradation and destruction, climate change, and other threats.”