U.S. Department of the InteriorOFFICE OF THE SECRETARY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Stephanie Hanna (O) 202/208-6416 March 19, 1997 STATEMENT BY SOLICITOR OF THE INTERIOR JOHN LESHY ON SUPREME COURT DECISION IN BENNETT v. SPEARThe Supreme Court's Endangered Species Act decision today involves some highly technical legal arguments concerning how people go about challenging agency decisions under the Act. We have always believed that our actions under the Act are and should be subject to court review, whether at the behest of environmentalists or other affected interests. In fact, we are defendants in numerous lawsuits brought under the Act by all sorts of interest groups. We sought to uphold the lower court's decision dismissing this particular lawsuit because we believed the plaintiff water districts had not followed the correct legal path to the courthouse. Although the Court's decision today rejected our technical legal arguments, it reaffirmed that the courthouse doors are open to all affected interests to review our implementation of the Act - an outcome with which, broadly speaking, we agree. I do not anticipate that the Court's decision will have any significant effect on our administration of the Endangered Species Act. -DOI-
U.S. Department of the Interior |