Alaska Wilderness League v. Jewell

The court upheld the regulation authorizing incidental take of Pacific walruses, including the issuance of a finding of no significant impact.

Environmental groups filed a complaint in the federal district court for the District of Columbia to challenge a regulation that permitted the incidental take of Pacific walruses in connection with offshore oil exploration activities in the Chukchi Sea off the Alaskan coast. The permit was issued under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The plaintiffs also alleged that the permit's issuance violated the National Environmental Policy Act. The plaintiffs contended, among other things, that the regulation would allow the oil industry to exacerbate stresses Pacific walruses were already experiencing due to the melting of sea ice "at unprecedented rates due to human-induced climate change." The plaintiffs said that the regulation improperly deferred analysis and mitigation of impacts on the walruses. The action was transferred to the District for Alaska.