CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY; DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE; FRIENDS OF THE EARTH; GREENPEACE USA; PACIFIC ENVIRONMENT v. DAVID BERNHARDT; BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT; UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

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The Ninth Circuit has ruled that the Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management erred by using a flawed biological opinion in order to approve an offshore drilling and production facility along Alaska’s northern coast. The biological opinion violated the Endangered Species Act by relying on non-binding mitigation efforts and failing to consider the project’s impact on polar bears.

[To accompany Federal Case Law Update "Ninth Circuit Revokes Federal Approval of Alaska Drilling Project" from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 63.]