The court denies the federal government's motion for summary judgment in a case where a farmer alleged that the government took his property without just compensation by ordering the farmer to cease operation of a drainage system and restore his property to its prior condition as wetlands. The court...

The Court holds that the issue of liability in a developer's regulatory takings claim against a city was properly submitted to a jury. After the city imposed more rigorous demands each time it denied five proposals to develop a 37.6-acre oceanfront parcel in Monterey, California, the developer filed...

The court holds that cemetery owners' takings claims arising from their failure to obtain a Clean Water Act (CWA) §404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are not ripe for review. In 1983, the property owners applied for a CWA §404 permit to dredge and fill 50 acres of the property, which...

The court holds that a state land use board decision precludes property owners from obtaining federal court relief of their takings claim under the U.S. Constitution. The landowners were prevented from building on their land due to an Oregon State law permitting dwellings to be built in forest use z...

The court holds that a city and county have standing to challenge the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) for implementing a water rights acquisition plan in Nevada before preparing a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS). The court first holds that the National Environmental Policy A...

The court holds that an interstate radioactive waste commission can sue a member state for violating the good-faith provisions of a radioactive waste compact. The court first holds that the Eleventh Amendment does not bar the commission's suit against the state. Congress has the plenary power to att...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision invalidating the U.S. Forest Service's 2007 travel management plan for parts of the Lewis and Clark National Forest. Nothing in the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977, which requires the Service to manage a wilderness study area so as to "maintain"...

A district court held that BLM's EISs associated with the Craters of the Moon and Pinedale resource management plans (RMPs) failed to adequately analyze impacts to the sage-grouse in violation of NEPA. The Craters of the Moon EIS did not discuss in any manner alternatives that reduced grazing short...

The Third Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Forest Service prohibiting it from halting any drilling in the Allegheny National Forest until a multi-year, forestwide EIS under NEPA is complete. Until recently, oil and gas drilling in the Forest was managed through a cooperative ...

The Tenth Circuit held that an Oklahoma city and a Texas city that entered into water contracts with one another lack standing to challenge Oklahoma's water appropriation permitting process as unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause. The claims at issue here are based on a substantive provisi...