The court affirms the conviction of nonmembers of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe for fishing illegally on an Indian reservation, upholding the constitutionality of a statute requiring nonmembers of the tribe to pay a special license fee set by the tribe.
In 1969, the Leech Lake Band of Chippewa India...

The court holds that the permit administrator and South Carolina Coastal Council's denial of an application to build a new bulkhead on beachfront property in violation of the state Coastal Zone Management Act does not constitute an unconstitutional taking of the land between the existing and propose...

The court upholds a Connecticut municipality's regulation requiring owners of land partially within designated wetlands areas to obtain municipal approval before erecting structures on the land's nonwetlands portion. The court first holds that the regulation does not impermissibly expand the jurisdi...

The court denies defendants' certification motion to bring an interlocutory appeal of the court's earlier ruling that defendant is liable in a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen suit for violating its national pollutant discharge elimination system permit and for permanent injunctiv...

The court holds that the "sudden and accidental" exception to the pollution exclusion clause in a comprehensive general liability insurance policy does not require an insurer to provide coverage of an insured manufacturing company's liability for environmental cleanup costs arising from ordinary bus...

The court holds that a district court erred in concluding that a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) suit by a water district against the United States for contamination of a well by a military laundry is barred by the FTCA's two-year statute of limitations. Applying California law, the court holds that ...

The court holds that insurance companies have a duty to defend an insured chemical company under its comprehensive general liability (CGL) policies against claims by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for response costs and natural resource damages under the Comprehensive Environmental R...

The court rules that a corporate officer is personally liable for violations of Wisconsin's solid and hazardous waste laws if the officer is responsible for the overall operation of the corporation's facility where the violations occurred. The court holds that the corporate officer was an operator w...

The court holds that a Louisiana statute allowing direct appeal of decisions of the state Department of Environmental Quality to the state court of appeal, bypassing the state district courts, is unconstitutional, and the public rights doctrine has no application under the Louisiana Constitution. Th...

The court holds that an insurance policy, as amended by the insurer's agent to negate the policy's pollution exclusions, provides coverage of state claims for environmental cleanup costs. Although the original policy language excluded coverage of such claims, the court holds that the insurer implici...