District Court Vacates National Marine Fisheries Services’ Biological Opinion and Environmental Assessment for Safe Harbor Agreements Regarding Shasta River Coho Salmon

August/September 2023

Environmental, Energy & Climate Change Law and Regulation Reporter, Volume 3, Number 11

In Environmental Protection Information Center, et al. v. Alicia Van Atta, et al., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted plaintiffs’ cross-motion for summary judgment and vacated the National Marine Fisheries Services’ (NMFS) Biological Opinion and environmental assessment. NMFS’ Biological Opinion and Enviornmental Assessment analyzed the effect of so-called “Safe Harbor Agreements” between NMFS and landowners nearby the Shasta River (Order at 2). As a result of the court’s order, NMFS must now prepare a new Biological Opinion that adequately accounts for the environmental impact statement. Id. at 28.

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