A court holds that the state legislature has not recognized an ocean boater's "right to a view" of the coastline as a factor in regulating development. Consequently, the California Coastal Commission erred in imposing special conditions on a developer's permit to build a residence and must rehear th...
The court holds that the California Timberland Productivity Act of 1982 (TPA) and general state forestry law do not preempt two county zoning ordinances relating to the permissible locations for timber operations. One ordinance restricts timber harvesting to specified zone districts within the count...
A court upholds the dismissal of residents' state- and local-law claims challenging the rezoning of a large area of land for retail development. The rezoning does not require a three-fourths majority vote of the town board because the residents' protest petition that sought to require a supermajorit...
The court denies a motion to remand to Louisiana state court individuals' class action against a company for the alleged seepage of mercury from one of its facilities. In addition to suing the company in state court, the class filed suit against the state environmental agency for failing to monitor,...
A court reverses a lower court decision denying a petition challenging a community college district's approval of a large construction and remodeling project. The district prejudicially abused its discretion by certifying a final environmental impact report (EIR), adopting a statement of overriding ...
A court upholds a declaratory judgment requiring the defendant insurance company to contribute to a second insurance company's cost of defending a manufacturing plant that both companies insured. The defendant previously entered into a settlement agreement with the plant that released it from any ob...
A court orders a city and a water district to reverse their approval of a water credit transfer. The water credit transfer in this case is a "project" within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The city and district therefore argue that it was exempt from CEQA under the c...
The court holds that petitioners lack standing to challenge a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rule that revised regulations governing the exemption standards for the transportation of radioactive material. The petitioners argue that the NRC violated the National Environmental Policy Act in prepa...
An appellate court upholds a local water agency ordinance that increases the groundwater augmentation fee to be charged to operators of wells within its jurisdiction. None of the agency board members voting for the augmentation charge had a disqualifying financial interest in approving the ordinance...
An appellate court holds that an insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a company in underlying actions concerning its unauthorized discharge of fill material into a creek. The discharges occurred after the company placed fill dirt along a road so that it could access a quarry. As a result of th...