Litigation
CSE houses a team of experienced law fellows and expert witnesses that can help organizations hold public agencies accountable for their commitments to protect the environment, foster equity, and provide meaningful opportunities for public participation. We help develop and coordinate litigation strategies that advance sustainability initiatives and guard against threats to the quality of our environment and economy. Our fellows litigate under statues such as the federal National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, National Forest Management Act, Clean Water Act, Freedom of Information Act and their state level counterparts. Our experts bolster their work by supplying declarations in the fields of environmental economics, conservation biology, and planning.
Some recent examples of our litigation support work include:
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Center for Sustainable Economy v. U.S. Department of Treasury, Case Number 6:09-cv-848, U.S. District Court, New Mexico.
Center for Sustainable Economy is conducting research on the environmental and economic impacts of Vehicle Acquisitions Holdings LLC – the new General Motors Corporation – now a federal entity, as well as the $65 billion in federal support provided to the U.S. auto industry over the past year. In a July CSE filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Treasury that will help document Treasury’s role in management of the U.S. auto industry and the range of environmental impacts associated with GM facilities. Treasury refused to process the request until CSE agreed to pay fees for the documents, even though CSE requested a waiver of fees as a public interest non-profit organization. On September 1st, CSE environmental law fellow Steven Sugarman filed the complaint against Treasury alleging violation of the FOIA. The litigation is currently pending. Read:
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American Bird Conservancy and Forest Conservation Council vs. Federal Communications Commission, Docket # 06-1165, D.C. District Court of Appeals
Center for Sustainable Economy (formerly Forest Conservation Council) and its co-plaintiff American Bird Conservancy won a major legal battle in their eight year campaign to protect migratory birds at cell towers authorized by the Federal Communications Commission. On February 19th, 2007 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an opinion vacating a 2006 Order by the FCC denying CSE and ABC’s 2002 petition seeking environmental review and mitigation of over 6,000 cell towers illegally authorized in the Gulf Coast region. The Court agreed with petitioners that the FCC’s Order violated the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. Importantly, the ruling opens the door to public participation in the cell tower authorization process, mitigation of cumulative impacts, and consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when proposed towers jeopardize endangered birds. Read:
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Forest Conservation Council et al. v. United States Forest Service, Appeal No. 05-35166.
CSE (formerly Forest Conservation Council) and seven other plaintiffs seek to compel the U.S. Forest Service to consider the wide range of ecosystem service benefits associated with unlogged forests as well as the externalized costs of logging when the agency prepares timber sales and other management activities on national forest lands. Without considering these benefits and costs, Forest Service decisions are biased in favor of logging. Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction was denied in 2007 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, but may be re-filed once the U.S. Forest Service issues final decisions on a range of timber sales and land management plans currently working their way through the administrative process.
