Professor Frank Publishes Op-ed on Supreme Court Environmental Case in Daily Journal

Professor of Environmental Practice Richard Frank ’74 published an op-ed in the Daily Journal on Weyerhaeuser Company v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The environmental case, recently accepted for review by the U.S. Supreme Court, concerns the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to designate land—including private property—as “critical habitat” for listed endangered species. Also at issue is the degree to which reviewing courts should defer to statutory interpretations made by federal agencies charged with implementing complex statutes such as the ESA. The case also presents “several fascinating legal subplots,” Frank writes, including whether the Trump administration will defend or abandon the Obama Administration’s position on the critical habitat issue, and the potential impact of President Trump’s appointee, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, in his first opportunity to rule on a major environmental law case.

Professor Frank writes that he “won’t be surprised” if the justices overturn the appeals court ruling that supported the government’s interpretation of the ESA’s “critical habitat” provisions and find that “reviewing courts indeed have jurisdiction to review the USFWS’s critical habitat determination.”

Frank is a leader in the field of environmental law and the founding Director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at UC Davis School of Law.