The court holds that a state environmental agency did not have a duty to ascertain the accuracy of the location of wetlands on developers' property. The court first holds that the duty to depict accurately the location of wetlands was properly the duty of the developers and their representatives. It...

The court holds that the passage of the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), which requires single-hulled oil tankers to be retrofitted with double hulls or be phased out of service, did not effect a taking of shipping companies' oil tankers. The court first holds that when the companies built or acquired the v...

The court reverses a district court's acquittal of a tow boat company, a company officer, and the boat's captains for violating the Federal Water Pollution Control Act by dumping pollutants into a river without a permit. The district court acquitted the defendants after a jury found them guilty. The...

The court reverses a district court's dismissal of a peat company's Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §404 and takings claims against the federal government concerning a proposed §404 permit. The court first holds that the district court erred in finding that it did not have subject matt...

The court holds that the federal governments' denial of a developer's application for a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §404 permit to dredge and fill certain underwater lakebottom property did not constitute a regulatory taking. The developer claimed that the denial resulted in a takin...

The court holds that a district court erred in failing to abstain under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971), in a case challenging the constitutionality of an Oregon county's solid waste ordinance. A company charged with violating the ordinance sought declaratory and injunctive relief against enfo...

The court holds that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' denial of a property owner's permit application to dredge and fill wetlands on his property in the Florida keys was not a taking. The court first holds that the U.S. Supreme Court did not hold in Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S....

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service's modification of the terms and conditions of grazing permits for the Gila and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests did not deprive permit holders of procedural due process under the Fifth Amendment. The court first holds that the permit holders have not de...

The court upholds a district court decision finding that an intermunicipal agreement between a town and several villages concerning the disposal of solid waste does not violate the dormant U.S. Commerce Clause. The agreement required each village to deliver all waste generated within its jurisdictio...

The court holds that a state law preempted a county ordinance that placed a six-month moratorium on the construction of all sludge storage facilities, and, consequently, a wastewater firm could build a sludge storage facility in the county under an approved state sludge utilization permit. The court...