The First Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a case challenging the constitutionality of regulations promulgated by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management imposing restrictions on lobster fishing in state waters. A fishermen's association initially brought the case i...

A California appellate court held that a consultant hired by a county to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) for development project is not liable to the developer for failing to prepare the EIR in a timely fashion. When the EIR was not submitted on time, the county terminated its contract ...

A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision that a local air district's adoption of a rule to reduce airborne dust is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The rule concerns the use of road paving to offset increases in airborne dust...

A district court denied in part and granted in part a disposal waste facility's motion to dismiss individuals' tort claim against it as untimely. Genuine issues of material fact preclude summary judgment on the ground that the individuals should have known the cause of their injuries based on widesp...

The Supreme Court of Tennessee reduced from $1 million to $500,000 a punitive damages award granted to property owners in their nuisance lawsuit against a highway construction company for burying tires and other debris on their land. Evidence supports the jury's award of punitive damages. There are ...

A California appellate court held that a local transportation agency's bus fare increase was statutorily exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Bus riders filed a petition for writ of mandate, arguing that the agency's use of the exemption, which remo...

A California appellate court held that a county was not required to conduct environmental review of a tax measure concerning transportation funding under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) prior to placing it on the general election ballot. The measure imposes a retail sales and use tax...

The Louisiana Supreme Court held that property owners who leased their land for oil and gas development were not required to give oil companies pre-suit notice or an opportunity to perform prior to filing their suit against the companies for property contamination. The companies argued that Article ...

The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the state's calculation of severance taxes owed by a company that operates a large natural gas well facility in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. State law provides that the fair market value of natural gas for severance tax purposes is determined after the produc...

A North Carolina appellate court held that the North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commission erred in issuing a country club a variance from state buffer requirements allowing it to build a nine-hole golf course along and over Banks Creek, certified trout waters. The applicable state statute requi...