The court affirms the grant of summary judgment in favor of the United States in property owners' Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) action for damages to their homes in Puerto Rico resulting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (the Corps') disposal of dredged material on a nearby beach. The owners' ...
A court reverses a lower court decision dismissing a landowner's regulatory takings claims against a county as unripe. The county's determination that the landowner could only build one residence on his property amounts to a final decision, and the permissible use of the property is known to a reaso...
The court holds that a state statute concerning the shooting of small game from a public right-of-way does not constitute a compensable taking under the U.S. or South Dakota Constitutions. Lacking more than intermittent and temporary invasions, or the placement of a fixed structure upon the land by ...
A court partially reverses a lower court judgment granting cities' petition for writ of mandate against state and regional water boards for adopting a total maximum daily load (TMDL) that established a numeric target of zero trash discharge from municipal storm drains into the Los Angeles River. The...
A California appellate court rejects two cities' challenges to a regional water board's comprehensive municipal storm sewer permit governing 18 public local entities in San Bernardino County, California. The permit imposes conditions on storm sewers that carry excess water runoff to the Santa Ana Ri...
The court affirms a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of a trade association declaring that a county's proposed ordinance involving waste disposal is unconstitutional and enjoining the county from its enforcement. By forcing the trade association's members to use the county's disposal...
The court holds that the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act and its implementing regulations do not provide the exclusive mechanism through which regional and state water control boards may address water quality concerns implicated by logging operations associated with a timber harvest plan. After t...
A court holds that a lower court erred in denying a citizen group's petition challenging the California Department of Food and Agriculture's (DFA's) certification of a program for controlling a crop disease with pesticides. The DFA abused its discretion by failing to fulfill its obligation under the...
A court holds that a city did not unlawfully surrender its police power or improperly amend its general plan by entering into a settlement agreement to resolve environmental litigation brought against it. The case arose after the city council, in light of the settlement agreement, voted to approve a...
The court holds that the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 preempts a city's regulatory efforts to provide safety oversight of a hazardous liquid pipeline within city boundaries. After a section of a hazardous liquid pipeline exploded in Seattle, Washington, the city refused to renew the pipel...