The court holds that the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) denial under the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Land Withdrawal Act of an application to drill on an oil and gas lease did not constitute a permanent taking of the leaseholder's rights. BLM denied the application until the U.S. Environ...

The court holds that the National Park Service's decision to remove a herd of 12 horses from Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The court first holds that the plaintiff foundation provided no support for its assertion that the horse...

The court reverses and remands a district court's allocation of insurance coverage costs between an insured and its excess insurers for soil, groundwater, and wetlands contamination at the insured's tank truck terminal. The court first holds that the district court had subject matter jurisdiction ov...

The court holds that under New York law, insurers are not obligated to defend and indernnify a clothing manufacturer from private and government damage claims stemming from contamination at the manufacturer's New York and Virgin Islands facilities. The manufacturer acquired the two facilities from s...

The court reverses a district court order that dismissed a property owner's Comprehensive Environmental Response. Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Georgia Hazardous Site Response Act contribution claims against a bank for failure to state a claim. The bank served as a trustee of a trust ...

The court holds that a pharmaceutical company that sold unused chemicals to a vitamin manufacturing facility is not a party liable for contribution under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The court first finds that the definition of "disposal" contai...

The court holds that when a party is liable for pollution response costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), it must share them regardless of whether it is the sole cause of the costs. An airplane manufacturer brought a contribution action agains...

The court reverses a district court decision holding a lessee that subleased property liable as an owner under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The court first holds that owner liability should not automatically apply to lessees/sublessors. First, s...

The court reverses a district court decision dismissing on summary judgment a property owner's Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) claim against prior owners of the property, as well as certain governmental entities, to recover the cost of cleaning up conta...

In a suit raising constitutional challenges to the siting of a regional low-level radioactive waste disposal facility, the court holds that freedom from environmental releases of nonnatural radiation is not a fundamental, unenumerated right protected by the Ninth Amendment, and differences in the fe...