Court Battles

California Trucking Association v. South Coast Air Quality Management District et al.

April 9, 2024 Court CaseUnited States, California, Los AngelesActive

When industry sued to stop implementation of SCAQMD’s Warehouse Indirect Source Rule, NRDC intervened to defend this life-saving regulation.

NRDC et al. v. City of Los Angeles et al. (China Shipping)

April 9, 2024 Court CaseUnited States, California, Los AngelesActive

In partnership with community-based organizations, NRDC is pushing the highly polluting Port of Los Angeles and its terminal operators to clean up their act.

Healthy Gulf v. FERC (Commonwealth LNG)

March 13, 2024 Court CaseLouisianaActive

A massive new liquefied natural gas export facility has been approved in an already overburdened environmental justice community. So we’re suing.

Garfield County et al. v. Biden et al. and Dalton et al. v. Biden et al. (Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monuments)

February 12, 2024 Court CaseUtahActive

NRDC joins the latest fight to defend the monuments from those who want to invalidate their borders.

NRDC v. California Department of Pesticide Regulation

February 6, 2024 Court CaseCaliforniaActive

NRDC is challenging California’s policy that allows pesticide-treated seeds to go unregulated.

Migrant Clinicians Network et al. v. U.S. EPA et al. (Streptomycin)

January 4, 2024 Court CaseUnited States, FloridaClosed

After NRDC and our partners sued the EPA, the medically important streptomycin antibiotic may no longer be lawfully sold or distributed as a pesticide.

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

December 1, 2023 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.

Center for Biological Diversity et al. v. Bureau of Land Management et al. (Willow Project)

November 13, 2023 Court CaseAlaskaActive

NRDC and partners are suing the agencies that have illegally approved the Willow oil development project—a ticking “carbon bomb”—in Alaska.

NRDC v. E. Scott Pruitt et al. (Neonic Pesticides)

May 15, 2023 Court CaseUnited StatesActive

Research shows neonics are highly toxic to wildlife, including key pollinators—and the EPA’s failure to act on that evidence violates the Endangered Species Act. So we’re suing.

The Wilderness Society et al. v. Trump et al. (Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument)

April 14, 2023 Court CaseUtahActive

The president does not have the authority to reduce or rescind national monuments created under the Antiquities Act. So we sued to protect Utah’s Grand Staircase–Escalante.

NRDC et al. v. Trump et al. (Bears Ears National Monument)

April 14, 2023 Court CaseUtahActive

NRDC and partners fought to restore protections to this national monument of incomparable cultural and natural significance.

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments et al. v. FDA et al. (Antibiotic Resistance)

January 24, 2023 Court CaseUnited StatesActive

NRDC and a coalition of public health advocacy groups are suing the FDA to halt unnecessary uses of antibiotics in animal agriculture—and protect people and the environment.

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.

Fastlane Transportation, Inc. et al. v. City of Los Angeles and BNSF Railway Co.

September 21, 2021 Court CaseCalifornia, Los AngelesActive

When the city of Los Angeles approved the construction of a noisy, polluting rail yard in a low-income community of color, NRDC went to court on behalf of local groups.

NRDC et al. v. McCarthy et al.

April 8, 2021 Court CaseUtahClosed

When the BLM reopened the area around Utah’s Factory Butte to unrestricted off-road vehicle use, it put this fragile ecosystem at risk.

National Audubon Society et al. v. David Bernhardt et al.

February 17, 2021 Court CaseAlaska, ArcticActive

NRDC and allies are suing over the Trump administration’s decision to open the heart of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing.

Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment et al. v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management et al.

January 20, 2021 Court CaseNew MexicoActive

The BLM failed to consult tribal communities and consider environmental impacts before it approved fracking permits in the Greater Chaco region of New Mexico.

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 et al. (Exceptional Events)

September 25, 2018 Court CaseUnited StatesClosed

The EPA’s flawed definition of a “natural event” under the Clean Air Act could allow preventable pollution, like power plant emissions, to be excused. So we took them to court.