The court holds that a landowner did not have a private right-of-action under the Illinois Environmental Protection Act (IEPA) to bring contribution claims against previous property owners for the cleanup of an underground storage tank. The court first holds that it is clear from the statutory schem...

The court grants a city's petition for review and reverses the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) order requiring the city to conduct a study of the effects of the Yelm Hydroelectric Project on the anadromous fish in the Nisqually River in Washington. The study would be used to determin...

The court grants a Superfund site administrative group's motion to compel two alleged potentially responsible parties (PRPs) to serve responses to the group's Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 36(a) requests for admission concerning the text of purchase agreements that reportedly address the liabiliti...

The court holds that farmer and cattlemen associations lack standing under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. §551(13), to challenge the U.S. Forest Service's involvement with the Colorado lynx recovery plan, which concerns the introduction of Canadian lynx into the state. The court f...

The court affirms a magistrate judge's decision awarding an oil transporter $90,766 for damages arising from hazardous sludge loaded onto the transporter's barge by the seller of spent lube oil. The seller contracted with the transporter to carry 18,000 barrels of spent lube oil. The seller did not ...

The court holds that intervenors may not be granted a writ of mandamus directing a trial court to allow them to appear at a fairness hearing and object to a proposed class action settlement agreement between class members and a company that allegedly contaminated the class members' riparian property...

The court upholds a district court decision dismissing a pesticide manufacturer's malicious prosecution claim against an agent of the New York State environmental agency and dismissing its claim that the agency's use of administrative conservation appearance tickets (ACATs) is unconstitutional. Afte...

The court holds that the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA), which only allows members of federally recognized Native American tribes to use protected eagle parts for religious purposes, does not violate the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA). The court first recognizes that the ...

The court holds that the standard for admissibility of novel scientific evidence set forth in Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923), and State v. Mack, 292 N.W.2d 764 (Minn. 1980), rather than the standard set forth in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 23 ELR ...

The court holds that a Native American tribe in California cannot regulate land use of fee-patented private property within its reservation boundary. A nonmember of the tribe that owned her land in fee sought to harvest timber. After receiving a state logging permit, the property owner sent a check ...