The Third Circuit vacated a lower court decision dismissing, on grounds of abstention, environmental groups' RCRA and CWA citizens suit in which they sought an injunction requiring the current and prior owners of a contaminated site to remediate contaminated sediments in the Raritan River. The group...

A district court denied EPA's motion to dismiss an environmental group's lawsuit challenging the Agency's administrative stay of two rules setting forth hazardous air emission standards for boilers and commercial and industrial solid waste incineration units. EPA argued that the court lacked jurisdi...

Maryland's highest court held that an environmental group has standing to challenge the state environmental agency's issuance of a nontidal wetlands permit for a development project. The permit allows a town to construct a road extension and stream crossing in order to provide primary access into th...

An Illinois appellate court held that an insurer has a duty to defend a manufacturing company in an underlying lawsuit filed against it by nearby homeowners for personal injury and property damage stemming from emissions generated as part of the company's normal business operations. The insurer ...

A California appellate court reversed and remanded a lower court decision denying water districts' motion to amend a 1961 judgment that imposed a "physical solution" on the West Coast groundwater basin. The districts wanted to store water in underground dewatered storage spaces of the basin that...

The Federal Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision granting the buyer and seller of an energy company damages for the U.S. government's ongoing breach of its contractual obligation to collect and dispose of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) generated at a nuclear plant in Plymou...

The Supreme Court of Ohio held that the territory of Lake Erie held in trust by the state of Ohio extends to the natural shoreline, which is the line at which the water usually stands when free from disturbing causes. Case law from 1878 and 1916, as well as the Fleming Act, enacted by the Ohio G...

The Supreme Court of South Carolina held that the South Carolina Solid Waste Policy and Management Act (SWPMA) does not preempt a county ordinance requiring solid waste generated within the county to be deposited at a county or county-approved landfill. A hauling company and a landfill that oper...

A California appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision granting an environmental group's petition for writ of mandamus challenging a county's approval of a mixed-use development project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The lower court corr...

A California appellate court held that the California Coastal Commission complied with the California Coastal Act and the California Environmental Quality Act when it certified a coastal development project along beachfront dune property in the city of Malibu. Petitioners argued that the commiss...