Case Explained: Center for Biological Diversity; Sierra Club; Habitat Recovery Project v. United States Department of Transportation; United States Maritime Administration; Charles Makings Acting Administrator U.S. Maritime Administration; Sean Duffy Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Filed: 2026-07-07

The Fifth Circuit denied the petition for review challenging the Maritime Administration’s licensing of a deepwater LNG export project. The court held that the petitioners lacked Article III standing because they failed to demonstrate that any of their members suffered a concrete and particularized injury in fact that was fairly traceable to the agency’s decision. Applying the standard for associational standing, the court found that none of the declarants provided sufficient evidence linking their specific recreational, commercial, or scientific activities to the project site with the necessary geographic nexus required to establish a causal connection between the alleged environmental harm and the challenged license. The court emphasized that generalized concerns about wildlife, pollution, or climate change, without proof of project-specific impairment to a member’s actual use of affected areas, are insufficient to confer jurisdiction. Consequently, the court declined to reach the merits of the claims under the Deepwater Port Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, or the Administrative Procedure Act, leaving the agency’s licensing decision in place.

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