A court reverses the state transportation agency's approval of an environmental impact report (EIR) for a proposed freeway interchange project in connection with a proposed hotel and casino complex on Native American lands and remanded the EIR for additional analysis. By analyzing the project's traf...

A court denies individuals' motions for attorneys fees and costs they spent defending a Clean Water Act action the United States filed against them. They argued that they were entitled to reimbursement because the United States ultimately dismissed its case. The individuals are correct that the lack...

A court dismisses a company's claims against the prior owners of its property for failing to remove drums, titanium grindings, and other metals from the site pursuant to a purchase agreement. The company also argued that the prior owners violated a state court order, issued in conjunction with a set...

The court holds that although a Native American tribe may change the use of their water rights established under a 1944 federal court decree from irrigation use to instream use, it may not apply the transportation loss portion of those rights to the new use. The decree provides that the amount alloc...

The court dismisses a petition challenging a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule allowing the director of an approved state landfill to grant variances from EPA criteria for sanitary landfills. The environmental group challenging the rule lacks associational standing because none of its ...

A court holds that California Penal Code 653o, which bans the import of products made from certain animals, including kangaroos, into California is preempted by federal law and by general federal objectives of kangaroo conservation. The statute as applied in this case conflicts with federal law and ...

A court upholds, with modification, a trial court decision in favor of an insurance company in a case involving an aerospace manufacturer's claim for coverage under numerous insurance policies for pollution-related liability totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. It was error for the trial court ...

A court holds that a city need not prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for a hotel project in San Diego, California. The potential environmental impacts of the project were adequately examined in two earlier EIRs for a city redevelopment...

The court reverses and remands a district court ruling in favor of a fungicide manufacturer that allegedly induced settlement of several commercial nurseries' prior products liability litigation in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and state tort law. The dis...

The court dismisses in part and denies in part a petition for judicial review of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision to allow an owner and operator of a hydroelectric project on the Sebasticook River in Maine to surrender its license and breach a dam. Nearby landowners complained tha...