Court Battles

Fehily v. Biden (Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument)

March 21, 2023 Court CaseUnited States, EastClosed

Once again, NRDC and our partners have moved to intervene to defend the monument’s legality.

NRDC, Sierra Club, and Respiratory Health Association v. Illinois Power Resources Generating

December 31, 2022 Court CaseIllinois, PeoriaClosed

NRDC and partners fought to make sure the owners of the E.D. Edwards coal-fired power plant never again put local communities at risk from hazardous and illegal pollution.

NRDC et al. v. Dan Brouillette et al.

September 20, 2022 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

The Trump administration’s Energy Department abandoned its obligations to review and update efficiency standards. So we sued—and won.

NRDC et al. v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration et al.

August 4, 2022 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

Fuel economy standards are good for our economy and our planet. When the Trump administration unlawfully attempted to weaken enforcement of these standards, we challenged them—and won.

NRDC et al. v. County of Dickson et al.

March 31, 2022 Court CaseTennessee, DicksonClosed

In the 1960s, manufacturing companies in Tennessee dumped a toxic industrial solvent that causes cancer, as well as reproductive and neurological harm, into an unlined landfill. NRDC helped to hold the companies to account.

Migratory Bird Treaty Act Lawsuits

March 1, 2022 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

To reinstate bedrock protections for more than 1,000 species of birds, NRDC and partners challenged a radical reinterpretation of the MBTA.

Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association v. Raimondo

March 1, 2022 Court CaseUnited States, EastClosed

With our partners, NRDC is defending the first and only national monument in the Atlantic Ocean.

Conservation Law Foundation v. Biden (Northeast Canyons and Seamounts)

November 11, 2021 Court CaseUnited States, EastClosed

NRDC and our partners are suing to restore full protections to this special monument.

Dirty Water Rule

September 1, 2021 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

The Trump-era rule narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act by revoking federal protections for countless streams, wetlands, and other waters.

League of Conservation Voters v. Trump (Offshore Leasing Ban)

April 13, 2021 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

Our broad coalition is fighting the Trump administration to keep our coasts permanently off-limits to oil and gas drilling.

South Carolina Coastal Conservation League v. Ross

November 30, 2020 Court CaseSouth Carolina, EastClosed

NRDC, partners, and coastal states sued to stop seismic blasting in the Atlantic Ocean, which threatens marine life like the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Western Organization of Resource Councils et al. v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management et al.

October 21, 2020 Court CaseMontana, WyomingClosed

The Bureau of Land Management failed to comply with the National Environmental Protection Act when it approved management plans in the Powder River Basin.

NRDC v. R. Zinke et al. (International Wildlife Conservation Council)

September 28, 2020 Court CaseInternational, United States, AfricaClosed

The Trump administration’s International Wildlife Conservation Council—which promoted the killing of elephants, lions, and giraffes by U.S. trophy hunters—was unbalanced, deceitful, and illegal.

NRDC v. David L. Bernhardt et al. (Rusty Patched Bumblebee Habitat)

September 1, 2020 Court CaseEast, MidwestClosed

More than two years since the rusty patched bumblebee was listed as an endangered species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to designate and protect the bee’s critical habitat, as required by law.

NRDC v. E. Scott Pruitt et al. (Enlist Duo)

July 23, 2020 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

The EPA approved the pesticide Enlist Duo despite its serious risks to people and monarch butterflies. So NRDC challenged the EPA’s decision—and won an important victory.

NRDC et al. v. EPA (COVID-19 Nonenforcement Policy)

July 8, 2020 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

The EPA issued a policy allowing companies to stop monitoring and reporting their compliance with pollution rules during the pandemic. So we sued.

NRDC et al. v. Wilbur Ross et al. (Vaquita)

April 22, 2020 Court CaseUnited States, MexicoClosed

NRDC and partners are fighting to save the last of the vaquitas.

Public Citizen, NRDC, and Communication Workers of America, AFL-CIO, v. Donald Trump

January 10, 2020 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

When President Trump issued his alarming “2-for-1” executive order, NRDC and our partners quickly sued. We’ll continue to fight the administration’s attempts to steamroll public health and environmental safeguards.

Wilderness Workshop et al. v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management et al.

November 15, 2019 Court CaseColoradoClosed

In 2015, BLM opened hundreds of thousands of acres in the Colorado River Valley to oil and gas development without ever analyzing and disclosing the environmental impacts. So we sued.

The California WaterFix project

May 13, 2019 Court CaseCaliforniaClosed

The California WaterFix project was no fix at all. In a victory for the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, California abandoned its two-tunnel project in May 2019.