Multiple plaintiffs have sued NOAA and other federal government defendants in the United States District Court for South Carolina, challenging NOAA’s issuance of Incidental Harassment Authorizations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act for oil and gas exploration offshore the Atlantic Coast. Most of the plaintiffs filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction o n their claims. The State of South Carolina, a recent entry into the case, filed a separate Motion for Preliminary Injunction on its claims. Most of the plaintiffs have joined both motions.
The court granted the Government’s unopposed motion to file a single, consolidated brief of up to 58 pages in response to the two Preliminary Injunction Motions.
