Overruled: The Untold Story of the Trump Administration

Updated Jul. 20, 2020

The untold story of the Trump administration’s agenda to unwind environmental protections is that it’s losing.

In three years, Earthjustice has filed more than a hundred lawsuits to defend environmental and health protections. (Read the special report analyzing the legal fights over those years.)

Rulings on the merits of 49 of the lawsuits have now been decided. Earthjustice has won 40 of the battles — more than 80% of the legal challenges decided thus far.

In one court ruling after another, federal courts have blocked the administration’s attempts to reverse environmental protections.

What the court rulings achieved:

Overruled: Arctic and Atlantic Ocean Executive Order.

Photo by James Mason for Earthjustice

Climate and Fossil Fuels

Mar. 19, 2019 U.S. District Court of Alaska

A federal court strikes down Executive Order 13795, ruling that President Trump overstepped his constitutional authority and violated federal law. The administration had attempted to reverse a ban on oil and gas drilling in the vast majority of the Arctic Ocean and important areas of the Atlantic Ocean.

The ruling prevented imminent leasing and restored permanent protections from drilling.

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Alaska Wilderness League, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Greenpeace, League of Conservation Voters, NRDC, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, REDOIL (Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands), Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society

Natural Resources Defense Council was co-counsel.

Creatas Video / Getty Images

Wildlife

Sept. 24, 2018 U.S. District Court of Montana

Trophy hunts are halted on the day before they were to begin, when a federal court ruled the decision to strip Endangered Species Act protections from the grizzly bears of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem was illegal.

A year earlier, in defiance of the best available science, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service had removed federal protections, clearing the way for the hunts.

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Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, National Parks Conservation Association

Open

Photo courtesy of Jesse Marquez

Health and Communities

Aug. 17, 2018 D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

The U.S. EPA is forced by a federal court to end its delay of life-saving protections that safeguard first-responders and approximately 177 million people who live, work, and go to school within the worst-case scenario zones for industrial chemical disasters.

The agency had been delaying implementation of the protections since March 2017, based on petitions from industry trade associations.

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Union of Concerned Scientists, Environmental Integrity Project, Sierra Club, Coalition For A Safe Environment (Wilmington, CA), Del Amo Action Committee (Torrance, CA), California Communities Against Toxics, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Air Alliance Houston, Community In-Power & Development Association (Port Arthur, TX), Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, Clean Air Council (Philadelphia, PA), Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (West Virginia)

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Martin do Nascimento / Earthjustice

Health and Communities

Apr. 19, 2019 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

A three-judge panel orders U.S. EPA to decide whether to ban chlorpyrifos, a dangerous pesticide known to harm human health, water, and wildlife. The agency had, in 2017, reversed its own proposal, refusing to ban chlorpyrifos.

U.S. EPA has continued to refuse to take action. On Aug. 6, 2019, Earthjustice again took the administration to court for its defiance of the law and science.

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League of United Latin American Citizens, Pesticide Action Network North America, NRDC, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Farmworkers Association of Florida, Farmworker Justice, GreenLatinos, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Learning Disabilities Association of America, National Hispanic Medical Association, Pineros Y Campesinos Unidos Del Noroeste, United Farm Workers

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Photo courtesy of Ecoflight

Climate and Fossil Fuels

Apr. 19, 2019 U.S. District Court of Montana

The administration violated the law when it opened up America's public lands to coal leasing just two months after coming into office, ruled a federal court.

The pause in coal leasing on federal public land had been ordered in 2016 to allow time to review and reform the federal program to ensure protection of the climate.

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Citizens for Clean Energy, Defenders of Wildlife, Montana Environmental Information Center, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, WildEarth Guardians

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Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice

Air Toxics

Mar. 12, 2018 U.S. District Court for N.D. Calif.

A federal court rules U.S. EPA must tell the public where smog levels exceed safety standards. Once the designations are issued, the work of cleaning up elevated smog levels can finally begin.

The agency itself estimated that compliance with the 2015 ozone standard will save hundreds of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks in children every year.

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American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, American Thoracic Society, Appalachian Mountain Club, National Parks Conservation Association, NRDC, Sierra Club, West Harlem Environmental Action

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Photo courtesy of Russ McSpadden / CC BY-NC 2.0

Mining, Waste, Coal Plants

Jul. 31, 2019 U.S. District Court for Arizona

At the 11th hour, a federal court halts a copper mine from desecrating Native American Tribes’ ancestral grounds.

The court fundamentally disagreed with the U.S. Forest Service's assumption that a mining company had the right to obliterate public lands to pave the way for quick profits for the company.

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Tohono O’odham Nation, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Hopi Tribe

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And there’s more:

Climate and Fossil Fuels

8. BLM Methane Rule Rescission

Jul. 16, 2020 U.S. District Court for N.D. Calif.

The Trump administration’s rollback of the Obama-era Waste Prevention Rule is invalidated. The safeguards go back into effect in 90 days, and the oil and gas industry will have to comply with the Rule’s requirements to prevent waste of gas on federal lands.

Public Lands and Oceans

9. BLM Sage Grouse Leasing

May 22, 2020 U.S. District Court for Montana

Trump administration’s attempt to gut a key part of the Bureau of Land Management’s 2015 plan to save the greater sage-grouse, an iconic bird species of the Western United States, is struck down.

Climate and Fossil Fuels

10. Montana BLM 2017/2018 Lease Sales - Groundwater

Feb. 23, 2018 U.S. District Court for N.D. Calif.

BLM failed to consider risks to Montana’s environment and water supply before issuing 287 oil and gas leases.

Health and Communities

11. County of Maui v. Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund

Apr. 23, 2020 U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled to keep the Clean Water Act intact, dealing a major loss to the Trump administration and its pro-polluter agenda.

Health and Communities

12. EPA Science Advisory Board

Apr. 21, 2020 D.C. Court of Appeals

U.S. EPA illegally excluded independent scientists from its scientific advisory boards.

Air Toxics

13. Pulp Mills Air Toxics

Apr. 21, 2020 D.C. Court of Appeals

U.S. EPA must ensure that its pollution standards for the pulp mill industry include limits on all the toxic pollutants that pulp mills emit, not just the ones it chooses to control.

Health and Communities

14. Dakota Access Pipeline

Mar. 25, 2020 D.C. District Court

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is found to have violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it affirmed federal permits for the pipeline originally issued in 2016, and is ordered to prepare a full environmental impact statement on the pipeline.

Air Toxics

15. Ozone Bump-ups

Dec. 10, 2019 U.S. District Court for N.D. Calif.

U.S. EPA put on a deadline for making and publishing final decisions on whether communities timely attained the 2008 health standard for ozone.

Health and Communities

16. Manufactured Housing Efficiency Code

Nov. 2, 2019 D.C. District Court

U.S. Dept. of Energy required to issue long-overdue energy efficiency standards for new manufactured homes.

Health and Communities

17. TSCA Framework Rules

Nov. 14, 2019 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

The U.S. EPA illegally gutted crucial chemical safety rules needed to protect families and workers from toxic chemicals.

Public Lands and Oceans

18. North Atlantic Right Whales

Oct. 29, 2019 D.C. District Court

National Marine Fisheries Service is ordered that, until the agency complies with wildlife and fishery protection laws, it must not allow entangling fishing gear known as "sink gillnets" in areas where the critically endangered, iconic whales are known to feed and gather.

Health and Communities

19. Fairbanks PM2.5 Nonattainment

Oct. 23, 2019 U.S. District Court for W.D. Wash.

U.S. EPA is required to begin a review of long-overdue plans addressing Fairbanks’ notorious and deadly air pollution levels before Jan. 15, 2020.

Public Lands and Oceans

20. South Florida Dredging FOIA

Oct. 8, 2019 U.S. District Court for S.D. Fla.

U.S. Army Corps agreed to provide all documents requested, without redactions, following a challenge filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Air Toxics

21. Cross-State Air Pollution

Oct. 1, 2019 D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

U.S. EPA’s “Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Close-Out” unlawfully failed to eliminate significant interstate pollution by the attainment deadline.

Public Lands and Oceans

22. Prince of Wales Landscape Level Analysis Project

Sept. 23, 2019 U.S. District Court for Alaska

Initial phase of a staggering logging project in the Tongass National Forest placed on hold a day before bids were scheduled to open.

Wildlife

23. Gulf Drilling ESA Delay

Jul. 19, 2019 U.S. District Court for M.D. Fla.

National Marine Fisheries Service commits to publishing a final programmatic biological opinion by Nov. 5, 2019, covering all oil and gas exploration and development in the Gulf of Mexico.

Public Lands and Oceans

24. Cadiz Right-of-Way

Jun. 21, 2019 U.S. District Court for C.D. Calif.

The administration violated the law when it greenlighted plans to construct a 43-mile-long pipeline through Mojave Trails National Monument and other public land in southern California.

Wildlife

25. Dusky Shark Overfishing

Mar. 11, 2019 D.C. District Court

The administration violated federal law by failing to use all available scientific evidence to end the overfishing of dusky sharks in U.S. waters.

Wildlife

26. West Coast Anchovy Catch Limits

Feb. 25, 2019 U.S. District Court for N.D. Calif.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is ordered to promulgate a new federal rule establishing a new catch limit for northern anchovy that complies with the U.S. fisheries management law — the Magnuson-Stevens Act — to prevent overfishing.

Health and Communities

27. Clean Water Rule

Nov. 26, 2018 U.S. District Court for W.D. Wash.

The court issues a nationwide vacatur of the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Army Corps’ “applicability date rule,” which had delayed application of the Waters of the U.S. rule for a period of two years.

Air Toxics

28. Virginia Ozone SIP

Nov. 14, 2018 Fourth Circuiit Court of Appeals

U.S. EPA acknowledged that its approval of a weakened air quality implementation plan for areas in Virginia would not stand up to scrutiny by the courts. The court agrees to EPA's request to strike down approval of the plan.

Air Toxics

29. San Joaquin Valley PM2.5 SIP Deadline

Oct. 24, 2018 U.S. District Court for N.D. Calif.

The U.S. EPA is ordered to enforce deadlines for clean air standards in California’s San Joaquin Valley, including to meet standards set more than 20 years ago.

Health and Communities

30. Agricultural Worker Protection Standard Delay

Jun. 22, 2018 U.S. District Court for S.D. N.Y.

Less than a month after Earthjustice files suit, U.S. EPA finally publishes the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register for improved pesticide training materials.

Health and Communities

31. Calorie Labeling

May 7, 2018 D.C. District Court

A transparency standard upholding the public’s right-to-know goes into effect following legal pressure, requiring restaurant menus to give consumers nutrition information.

Health and Communities

32. Certified Pesticide Applicator Rule Delay

Mar. 21, 2018 U.S. District Court for N.D. Calif.

The court orders U.S. EPA to stop allowing child workers to handle dangerous pesticides — effectively immediately.

Health and Communities

33. Formaldehyde in Wood Products

Mar. 13, 2018 U.S. District Court for N.D. Calif.

A successful lawsuit ends U.S. EPA’s repeated delays in restricting carcinogenic gas emissions from composite wood products.

Climate and Fossil Fuels

34. BLM Methane Rule Delay

Feb. 23, 2018 U.S. District Court for N.D. Calif.

A second attempt by the Interior Dept. to stay the BLM Methane Rule is rejected.

Climate and Fossil Fuels

35. Signed Energy Efficiency Rules

Feb. 15, 2018 U.S. District Court for N.D. Calif.

The Dept. of Energy is ordered to publish four illegally stalled energy efficiency standards that put at risk bill savings, pollution reductions.

Climate and Fossil Fuels

36. FERC Grid Resiliency

Jan. 8, 2018 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

A Dept. of Energy proposal that blatantly propped up aging, financial unviable coal and nuclear plants is rejected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Health and Communities

37. Paint and Dust Lead Standards

Dec. 27, 2017 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

U.S. EPA ordered to move forward on revising dangerously outdated standards on allowable lead levels in paint and dust.

Climate and Fossil Fuels

38. BLM Methane Rule Suspension

Oct. 4, 2017 U.S. District Court for N.D. Calif.

The Trump administration illegally suspended the BLM Methane and Waste Prevention Rule without necessary public comment.

Climate and Fossil Fuels

39. Oil and Gas Leak Repairs

Jul. 3, 2017 D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

U.S. EPA attempted to delay the effectiveness of standards limiting emissions of methane and other pollutants from sources in the oil and gas sector. Earthjustice's request for summary vacatur of U.S. EPA's stay was granted, reinstating protections.Learn more.

Climate and Fossil Fuels

40. Energy Efficiency Ceiling Fans Standards

May 24, 2017 Second Circuit Court of Appeals

After a petition for review was filed, challenging the Dept. of Energy's delay of the effective date for energy efficiency standards of ceiling fans, the agency declined to extend its delay. The standards finally took effect on Sept. 30, 2017.

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No other organization has filed more federal lawsuits over the past decade to protect the environment than Earthjustice.

Alongside our clients, partners, and dedicated supporters, we are uniquely prepared to hold the government accountable to the rule of law.

The Earth needs a good lawyer. And in this pivotal moment, Earthjustice has more than 140. We’re the lawyers for the environment, and the law is on our side. The hard work of fighting for a healthy environment for all is not going away. And we’re ready for it.