The court affirms a district court's dismissal, under the Federal Tort Claims Act's (FTCA's) independent contractor and discretionary function exceptions, of a lawsuit against the federal government for groundwater contamination at a private farm, caused by trichloroethylene (TCE) disposal at an Air...

The court holds that two insurance companies have no duty to defend or indemnify a Delaware county for future costs resulting from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) administrative proceedings under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) ad...

The court affirms a district court decision that an insurance policy's pollution exclusion and owner exclusion clauses do not bar the policy's coverage of the insureds' costs of complying with a government order to clean up contaminated waste from painting operations that they buried in barrels or p...

The court holds that a challenge by the state of Nebraska to the siting of a regional low-level radioactive waste storage facility in Boyd County, Nebraska, is barred by a regional compact's time limits on suits and the doctrines of estoppel and laches. Ruling on a motion for summary judgment by the...

The court holds that the insurers of a local sewage authority are not required to defend the authority against claims brought by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under §122 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) in connection with the aut...

The court holds that Nevada's state engineer improperly denied the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) applications for state water appropriation permits that would allow livestock to be watered on public lands in Douglas County, Nevada. The state regulation at issue allows the state engineer to iss...

The court holds that a Native American tribal court was not created in accordance with federally mandated procedures, that the illegitimately formed tribal court could not exercise jurisdiction over a tribal oil and gas lease dispute, that oil companies, therefore, were not required to exhaust their...

The court upholds a district court decision denying environmental groups the right to intervene in a suit concerning the listing of the Atlantic salmon as an endangered species. In 1999, the groups sued the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), challe...

The court holds that two Michigan state legislators lack standing to challenge the Secretary of the Interior's approval of gaming compacts between the state of Michigan and four Native American tribes. The legislators—one a member of the state house, and the other a member of the state senate—cl...

The court holds that the take provision of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as applied to landowners, does not violate the U.S. Commerce Clause. After purchasing property, the landowners sought to develop it, but were prevented from doing so because of the restrictions placed on the land under the ...