The Ninth Circuit held that the United States can extinguish California's public trust rights when exercising its federal power of eminent domain. The case involves 32.42 acres of land that the U.S. Navy has continuously leased from the state since 1949. The parcel is subject to California's pub...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that a property owner may proceed with his APA suit against the United States claiming that the Secretary of the Interior lacked authority under §465 of the Indian Reorganization Act to take title to land in trust for a Native American tribe seeking to open a casino....

A Washington appellate court held that the developer of 30 residential waterfront lots must seek a permit under the Shoreline Management Act of 1971 prior to building private docks to accompany the new homes. Because the docks would be designed for the private, noncommercial use of the owners of...

A California appellate court held that a local board's environmental impact report (EIR) for the construction of a light rail line connecting downtown Los Angeles with Santa Monica complies with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). A coalition of homeowners' associations, community g...

A Pennsylvania appellate court enjoined for 120 days the effective date of a new state law, Act 13, that authorizes municipalities to regulate the location of oil and gas operations but not the manner in which they are operated. The court reasoned that municipalities must have an adequate opport...

A California appellate court upheld a county board's adoption of a zoning ordinance pertaining to lot line adjustments. The ordinance continued the county's existing administrative practice of allowing lot line adjustments impacting four or fewer parcels to readjust lots included in a prior applicat...

The First Circuit upheld the dismissal of a citizen group's lawsuit against the FWS in a suit concerning Maine's conveyance of easements on a recreational trail purchased with federal funds. The Wildlife Restoration Act, enacted in 1937, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to disburse money...

The D.C. Circuit upheld a lower court decision dismissing an environmental group's action challenging FWS' and the National Park Service's plan for managing elk and bison populations in the National Elk Refuge and Grand Teton National Park. Part of this plan includes ending the longstanding agen...

A New York court upheld a town's enactment of a zoning law that bans oil and gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing, within the geographical borders of the township. The holder of two gas leases argued that §23-0303 of New York's Environmental Conservation Law preempts the zoning law. The...

The Tenth Circuit dismissed petitions challenging National Park Service (NPS) rules governing snowmobile use in the Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. Petitioners, which included Wyoming, snowmobile associations, and a county, ...