The Tenth Circuit upheld a lower court decision vacating a prior order that set aside a U.S. Forest Service decision revoking a business' permits to operate a lodge and outfitter-guide service. The business sold its property after the permits were revoked but before the lower court issued its order....

The Eighth Circuit affirmed a lower court's decision to abstain from an action seeking a declaration of the rights and obligations of various insurance companies and an oil company with respect to soil contamination surrounding the oil company's refinery in Hartford, Illinois. The lower court correc...

A district court dismissed environmental groups' claim that the Department of Homeland Security's waiver of various federal environmental laws with respect to the construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border under the REAL ID Act of 2005 was unconstitutional. The court lacks the power to in...

The Ninth Circuit held that an insurance company had no duty to pay for the difference between the sale price received for polluted properties and the fair market value of the land had it been cleaned up prior to sale. The properties at issue were owned by two dissolved partnerships. A court-appoint...

The Ninth Circuit dismissed individuals' appeal from a judgment for defendants in a case claiming that they violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act in adopting a National Park Service (NPS) program to restore and protect Santa Cruz Island by, in pa...

The Second Circuit upheld a consent decree between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a private company involving the removal of polychlorinated biphenyls from the Hudson River. A town where some of the work will be performed intervened in the case arguing that provisions of the cons...

A district court dismissed a lawsuit filed by Alaska native groups seeking to rescind certain oil and gas leases issued by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) in 2007. The MMS prepared an EIS in 2003 for lease sales that were to occur in 2003, 2005, and 2007. Because of the time lag between the 20...

A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision denying a petition to set aside a regional water board order requiring a company to perform a human health risk assessment in connection with its cleanup of a large toxic groundwater plume of industrial wastes that leaked into the ground a...

A California appellate court held that a regional air quality district abused its discretion under the California Environmental Quality Act in issuing a negative declaration for an ultra low sulfur diesel fuel manufacturing project. The environmental group challenging the project offered substantial...

The D.C. Circuit held that a consumer group lacks standing to challenge a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) safety standard requiring a warning system for underinflated tires. The group alleged that some of its members will suffer car accidents in the future that otherwise would...