Judicial: NEPA,

CASCADIA WILDLANDS, an Oregon non-profit corporation; OREGON WILD, an Oregon non-profit corporation; & BENTON FOREST COALITION, an Oregon corporation, Plaintiffs, v. ALICE CARLTON, in her official capacity as Umpqua Nat’l Forest Supervisor; & UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE, an administrative agency of the United States Dep’t of Agric., Defendants., No. 6:18-CV-00858-TC, 2018 WL 4935424 (D. Or. Oct. 11, 2018); Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction that would halt implementation of a July 11, 2017, United States Forest Service (“FS”) decision to allow logging as part of the Quartz Integrated Project (“Quartz Project”). Specifically, plaintiffs allege that the FS violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to allow for public comment regarding amendments to the timber sale, and by failing to adequately account for management changes on adjacent land belonging to the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”). Court denied.

ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, INC., Plaintiff, v. SONNY PERDUE, Sec’y of Agric., & UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Defendants., No. 17-CV-2252 (CRC), 2018 WL 4938574 (D.D.C. Oct. 11, 2018); The Court was asked to adjudicate for the second time whether the Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) properly denied a request by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (“ALDF”) to intervene in administrative proceedings against the Cricket Hollow Zoo. Last year, after ALDF challenged the first denial, the Court found that USDA’s Judicial Officer had incorrectly applied the relevant law, vacated his decision, and remanded the case to the agency for reconsideration. SeeALDF v. Vilsack, 237 F. Supp. 3d 15 (D.D.C. 2017). Upon reconsideration, the Judicial Officer once again denied ALDF’s request to intervene, prompting this related case in which ALDF contends that he again actedarbitrarily, capriciously, and contrary to law.
ALDF now moves for summary judgment and asks the Court to order the Judicial Officer to permit its intervention. USDA, for its part, moves to dismiss the case as moot or, in the alternative, seeks summary judgment in its favor. The Court concludes that because it could grant ALDF an effective remedy, the case is not moot. Accordingly, the Court will deny USDA’s motion to dismiss. But the Court also finds that the Judicial Officer’s denial of ALDF’s intervention applied the correct legal standards and did so in a reasonable way. The Court granted USDA’s motion for summary judgment and denied ALDF’s.

Regulatory:

Notice of Intent: Agricultural Research Service, USDA; Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, intends to grant to Zoetis, LLC of Kalamazoo, Michigan, an exclusive license to U.S. Patent No. 9,528,094, “ATTENUATED AFRICAN SWINE FEVER VIRUS VACCINE BASED IN THE DELETION OF MGF GENES”, issued on December 27, 2016 and U.S. Patent No. 9,808,520, “RATIONALLY DEVELOPED AFRICAN SWINE FEVER ATTENUATED VIRUS STRAIN PROTECTS AGAINST CHALLENGE WITH PARENTAL VIRUS GEORGIA 2007 ISOLATE”, issued on November 7, 2017. Info HERE

Notice: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); EPA has received applications to register pesticide products containing active ingredients not included in any currently registered pesticide products. Pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA is hereby providing notice of receipt and opportunity to comment on these applications. Info HERE

Notice: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Section 5(g) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires EPA to publish in the Federal Register a statement of its findings after its review of TSCA section 5(a) notices when EPA makes a finding that a new chemical substance or significant new use is not likely to present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment. Such statements apply to premanufacture notices (PMNs), microbial commercial activity notices (MCANs), and significant new use notices (SNUNs) submitted to EPA under TSCA section 5. This document presents statements of findings made by EPA on TSCA section 5(a) notices during the period from August 1, 2018 to August 31, 2018. Info HERE

Notice: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR), NESHAP for Pulp and Paper Production (EPA ICR Number 1657.08, OMB Control Number 2060-0387), to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. Before doing so, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed information collection as described below. This is a proposed extension of the ICR. An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Info HERE

Legislative:

H.R. 6870: To rename the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 in honor of Representative Louise McIntosh Slaughter; Status: Passed House & Senate (President next) on Oct 11, 2018 This bill was passed by Congress on October 11, 2018 and goes to the President next.  Info HERE

 

 

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