An Indiana appeals court reversed the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission's approval of a purchase and sales agreement for "substitute natural gas" an energy company plans to produce at its new coal gasification plant. The contract meets the common law definition of an enforceable contract. It als...

The Second Circuit upheld the dismissal of two lawsuits challenging a Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) directive directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to take "prudential actions" to protect themselves against risks raised by Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs that impose priority- o...

A district court held that the bar to transfer of CERCLA liability applies to contribution claims brought between and among third parties, not just the U.S. government. CERCLA §107(e)(1) provides that "no indemnification, hold harmless, or similar agreement or conveyance shall be effective to trans...

A district court enjoined a county from enforcing a solid waste flow control ordinance that, among other things, requires all waste collected in the city to be disposed of at a city landfill. The city had entered into franchise contracts with a number of haulers that allowed them to dispose of waste...

A district court denied a mining company's motion to dismiss a smelting company's contribution claim against it for response costs and natural resources damages incurred at an old smelting operation in the Southeast Missouri Mining District. The mining company argued that the smelting company, which...

A New York court struck down a city's local ordinance that placed a two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing within its borders. The city argued that it issued the ordinance under its local police powers and that it was therefore not required to refer the law to the county planning board prior to...