Court Battles

Since our founding in 1970, NRDC has been in court defending the environment and human health. Litigation is in our DNA.

Here, you can follow some of our landmark court battles as well as other legal advocacy, including administrative cases and amicus briefs. Whether up against a fossil fuel corporation or a government agency, NRDC will continue using facts, evidence, and the rule of law to enforce safeguards and hold polluters accountable.

MEET OUR LITIGATION TEAM

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

May 29, 2024 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. EPA (Tetrachlorvinphos)

January 25, 2023 Court CaseUnited StatesActive

NRDC is fighting to ban the use of a dangerous pesticide in household pet products.

Communities for a Better Environment v. Corteva Inc. et al.

February 15, 2022 Court CaseCaliforniaActive

NRDC is working with a top environmental justice watchdog to clean up a chemical plant in California.

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Friends of the Earth et al. v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

August 6, 2024 Court CaseFlorida, MiamiClosed

NRDC and our partners are advocating for the NRC to analyze the potentially grave environmental impacts of extending the operating licenses of two Florida nuclear reactors.

NRDC et al. v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service et al. (Rusty Patched Bumblebee)

July 18, 2024 Court CaseEast, MidwestClosed

For the fourth time, NRDC headed to court to secure habitat protections for the endangered rusty patched bumblebee.

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

May 29, 2024 Court CaseAlaskaActive

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

Vaquita Lawsuits

March 18, 2024 Court CaseMexico, United StatesActive

NRDC and our partners are fighting to save the last of the vaquita.

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.

Potomac Riverkeeper v. U.S. Department of the Navy

January 10, 2024 Court CaseWashington, D.C., Maryland, VirginiaClosed

Thanks to a lawsuit brought by Potomac Riverkeeper Network and NRDC, the U.S. Navy must clean up its act on the Potomac River.

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.

Keystone XL Pipeline Lawsuits

January 1, 2024 Court CaseNebraska, South Dakota, MontanaClosed

The massive pipeline threatened our climate and public health—and the government’s approvals violated environmental laws. So we went to court.

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.

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.

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

February 1, 2023 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.

Maine People’s Alliance and NRDC v. HoltraChem Manufacturing Co. LLC, and Mallinckrodt US LLC

October 11, 2022 Court CaseMaineActive

In 2000, NRDC and the Maine People’s Alliance sued Mallinckrodt—a former owner of a plant that contaminated the Penobscot River with toxic mercury—to seek a cleanup.