NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL v. JEWELL

No. 09-17661.

749 F.3d 776 (2014)

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL; California Trout; San Francisco Baykeeper; Friends of the River; The Bay Institute, all non-profit organizations, Plaintiffs-Appellants, and Metropolitan Water District Southern California, Plaintiff in Related Case, Plaintiff, v. Sally JEWELL, in her official capacity as Secretary of the Interior; Dan Ashe, in his official capacity Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Michael J. Connor, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau Reclamation; Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District; Pacific Realty Associates, LP; Reclamation District 1004; Beverly F. Andreotti; Banta-Carbona Irrigation District; Patterson Irrigation District; West Side Irrigation District; Byron Bethany Irrigation District; Carter Mutual Water Company; Howald Farms, Inc.; Maxwell Irrigation District; Meridian Farms Water Company; Oji Brothers Farms, Inc.; Henry D. Richter; Sutter Mutual Water Co.; Tisdale Irrigation and Drainage Company; Windswept Land and Livestock Company; City of Redding; Coelho Family Trust; Eagle Field Water District; Mercy Springs Water District; Oro Loma Water District; Conaway Preservation Group; Del Puerto Water District; West Stanislaus Irrigation District; Fresno Slough Water District; James Irrigation District; Tranquillity Irrigation District; Christo D. Bardis; Abdul Rauf; Tahmina Rauf; David and Alice Te Velde Family Trust; Fred Tenhunfeld; Family Farm Alliance, Defendants-Appellees, San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority; Westlands Water District; California Farm Bureau Federation; State Water Contractors; California Department of Water Resources; Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District; Natomas Central Mutual Water Company; Pelger Mutual Water Company; Pleasant Grove-Verona Mutual Water Company; Reclamation District 108; River Garden Farms Company; Princeton-Codora-Glenn Irrigation District; Provident Irrigation District; Kern County Water Agency, Defendant-intervenors-Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Filed April 16, 2014.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Barbara J. Chisholm (argued), Hamilton Candee , Casey A. Roberts , Rachel J. Zwillinger , Altshuler Berzon LLP, San Francisco, CA; Katherine Poole , Douglas Andrew Obegi , Natural Resources Defense Council, San Francisco, CA; Trent W. Orr , Michael R. Sherwood , Earthjustice, Oakland, CA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Robert H. Oakley (argued), Andrew C. Mergen , Environment & Natural Resources Division, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.; Ignacia S. Moreno , Assistant Attorney General, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, D.C., for Federal Defendants-Appellees.

Stuart L. Somach (argued), Andrew M. Hitchings , Somach Simmons & Dunn, Sacramento, CA; Steven P. Saxton (argued), Kevin M. O'Brien , Downey Brand LLP, Sacramento, CA; J. Mark Atlas , Attorney at Law, Willows, CA; Jeffrey A. Meith , David Steffenson , Minasian, Spruance, Meith, Soares & Sexton, LLP, Oroville, CA; Lynette M. Frediani , City of Redding, Redding, CA; Scott A. Morris , Daniel J. O'Hanlon , Hanspeter Walter , Rebecca R. Akroyd , Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard, Sacramento, CA; Steven Lamon , John Fischer , Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP, Sacramento, CA, for Defendant-Intervenors-Appellees.

Before: ALEX KOZINSKI, Chief Judge, M. MARGARET McKEOWN, KIM McLANE WARDLAW, RAYMOND C. FISHER, RONALD M. GOULD, RICHARD C. TALLMAN, JOHNNIE B. RAWLINSON, RICHARD R. CLIFTON, CONSUELO M. CALLAHAN, MILAN D. SMITH, JR., and N. RANDY SMITH, Circuit Judges.


OPINION

M. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal, we address the requirement under Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq., that federal agencies must consult with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (Service) prior to taking any agency action that could...

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