Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Department of the Navy

Center for Biological Diversity and a Guam-based nonprofit organization with a mission to protect natural and cultural resources filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Guam challenging the U.S. Department of the Navy’s (Navy’s) project to relocate 5,000 marines and their dependents from Okinawa, Japan to Guam. The plaintiffs asserted that the Navy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act and Administrative Procedure Act by failing to take required steps to protect 15 species listed as endangered or threatened. The plaintiffs alleged, among other things, that the Navy was obligated to reinitiate formal consultation under the Endangered Species Act both because there had been a delay in implementing agreed-upon conservation measures and also because of new information regarding new or increased threats, including an expected 100% increase in intense storms due to climate change that would threaten limestone forests that serve as habitat for listed species. CBD also asserted a claim under the Freedom of Information Act.