Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne

Filing Date: 2008
Case Categories:
Principal Laws:
Endangered Species Act (ESA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA)
Description: Challenge to rule authorizing “incidental take” of polar bears and Pacific walruses in connection with oil and gas development.
  • Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne
    Docket number(s): 3:08-cv-0159-RRB
    Court/Admin Entity: D. Alaska
    Case Documents:
    Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary
    01/08/2010 Order Download Order issued dismissing action. A federal court in Alaska upheld a rule by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) that allowed the incidental take of polar bears and Pacific walruses during oil and gas exploration in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea. The court dismissed the lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity seeking to revoke the rule, holding that it was similar to another agency rule concerning Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, which was recently upheld by the Ninth Circuit. In the Beaufort Sea case, the Ninth Circuit concluded that DOI had properly considered the impact of climate change when it approved the removal of otherwise protected polar bears and walruses from oil and gas exploration sites in an Arctic body of water under U.S. jurisdiction.
    07/08/2008 Complaint Download Complaint filed.