Delisting petition may challenge original listing of endangered species based upon new evidence

The California Supreme Court has ruled that, under the California Endangered Species Act, a plaintiff may use a delisting petition to challenge the original decision by the California Fish and Game Commission to list an endangered species—even in the absence of changes occurring after the original listing of the species.  Central Coast Forest Association v. Fish and Game Commission No. S208181 (Calif. Supreme Ct., Feb. 27, 2017). The Court found that commission regulations were not intended to preclude delisting where new scientific evidence shows that the species never qualified as endangered in the first instance. Our full report on the case and its implications, by Laura Godfrey Zagar and Anne Beaumont, is available here.