Challenge against a Forest Service decision to issue a permit to graze livestock without Clean Water Act certification from the State of Oregon that the grazing will comply with water quality standards.

June 18, '08 - ONDA files opening brief in the Ninth Circuit.

May 2, '08 - Court grants ONDA's motion asking court to expedite the time set for oral argument, setting case for argument before the Ninth Circuit in Oct. 2008.

Mar. 3, '08 - ONDA appeals district court decision to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jan. 11, '08 - Court issues order adopting Magistrate's Findings & Recommedation, dismissing case on jurisdictional grounds.

Dec. 14, '07 - ONDA files Objections to Magistrate Judge's Findings & Recommendation, arguing Supreme Court's new interpretation of key Clean Water Act provision allows ONDA to relitigate whether Forest Service grazing permits require state certification of compliance with water quality standards under CWA.

Nov. 30, '07 - Magistrate Judge issues recommendation that Forest Service's motion for judgment on the pleadings be granted because ONDA is precluded from relitigating same issue from ONDA v. Dombeck.  

Aug. 10, '07 - ONDA files Response to government's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, arguing that we are not precluded from bringing this suit because of the previous similar lawsuit.

April 27, '07 - ONDA and six other conservation organizations filed suit in federal court today against the U.S. Forest Service over the agency’s issuance of grazing permits that do not certify that state water quality standards will be met. The lawsuit claims that under the Clean Water Act, the agency may only issue a permit if the State of Oregon first certifies that the permitted activity will comply with standards for water temperature and other criteria.

In 1994, ONDA prevailed on an identical claim in the district court before being reversed by the Ninth Circuit. A recent Supreme Court decision has called into question the Ninth Circuit's 1998 decision, broadly interpreting the Act's term "discharge" in a manner consistent with the lower court's original ruling.

See press release.

Feb. 23, '07 - ONDA and six other conservation organizations file 60-day notice of violations of Clean Water Act, targeting Forest Service's issuance of a livestock grazing permit without certification from State of Oregon that the authorized grazing would not violate state water quality standards.