The court upholds a district court decision dismissing as unripe a waste disposal plant's claim that a county's revocation of an unusual use zoning permit constituted a taking without just compensation. The plant filed suit in district court after a circuit court affirmed the county's revocation of ...

The court reverses a trial court decision granting an oil company's summary judgment motion to dismiss cities' claims for the value of municipal services that were diverted to cleanup efforts following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Assuming that the free public services doctrine applies as a matter of...

The court holds that a consent decree entered in federal court between the city of Lodi, California, and the primary insurer of a dissolved California corporation that polluted the city's groundwater does not preclude the city from bringing suit in state court to reach the corporation's other insura...

The court dismisses as unripe mining associations' claim that the U.S. Forest Service arbitrarily and capriciously designated land straddling the Hoosier Ridge in Colorado as a research natural area (RNA). The court first holds that the mining associations' claim is not fit for judicial review. Alth...

The court holds that a state environmental agency does not have standing to challenge the constitutionality of two state statutes that limited the agency's authority to set ordinary high watermark boundaries for lakes. The court first holds that a state agency generally may not attack a statute's co...

The court holds that the Alaska mining commissioner permissibly nullified the mining rights acquired by a mining claims locator on state-selected federal lands. The court first holds that the commissioner did not err in finding that the locator was not qualified to conduct business in Alaska and, th...

The court holds that the failure of two state air quality commissioners to disclose potential conflicts of interest did not invalidate a commission rule that amended the opacity and sulfur dioxide regulations for coal-fired utility boilers. The court first holds that the district court applied an in...

The court holds that a county water agency that certified that its environmental impact report (EIR) for a proposed water project calling for increased water use from mountain lakes complied with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and a county irrigation district that exempted its propo...

The court affirms a lower court's decision to deny a recycling company's motion to strike a default judgment issued against it for violating state hazardous waste laws, but vacates the final order and remands the case because the lower court failed to conduct a hearing on the relief requested by the...

The court holds that because a land developer failed to receive an appealable final decision on its wetlands development permit application, the developer's takings claim against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not ripe and must be dismissed as premature. The Corps, after receiving the developer...