Wilderness Society v U.S. Department of the Interior

Filing Date: 2009
Case Categories:
Principal Laws:
Endangered Species Act (ESA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), Energy Policy Act of 2005
Description: Challenge to designation of electricity transmission corridors.
  • Wilderness Society v U.S. Department of the Interior
    Docket number(s): 3:09-cv-03048-JW
    Court/Admin Entity: N.D. Cal.
    Case Documents:
    Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary
    07/03/2012 Settlement Agreement Download Notice of motion and joint motion to dismiss case filed with settlement agreement.
    07/07/2009 Complaint Complaint filed. Fourteen environmental nonprofit groups sued the Department of Interior, alleging that it violated NEPA and other environmental laws in designating 6,000 miles of electricity transmission corridors on public lands in the West. The corridors were designated in January 2009, just one week before former President Bush left office. The plan covers 3.2 million acres of federal lands in 11 western states and creates a network of right-of-ways known as the “West-Wide Energy Corridor.” The plaintiffs allege that the plan ignores the renewable electricity standards that have been adopted by 9 of the 11 states, which call for the increased use of the region’s wind, solar and geothermal resources. The lawsuit alleges that the plan failed to consider the environmental impacts or analyze alternatives.