The D.C. Circuit reversed and remanded a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order allowing states to regulate the reimbursement of "headwater benefits" from downstream hydropower plants to upstream dam operators. To enable upstream firms to recoup part of the cost of conferring headwater be...
A California appellate court upheld the dismissal of a citizen group's California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) claim against a city for approving three tract maps within a specific subdivision without requiring the applicant to comply with the subdivision plan's conditions for approval and mitig...
A district court denied a metal refining company's motion to dismiss as time barred Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §107 claims filed against it. In the 1990s, the plaintiff and the company entered into a settlement agreement. The agreement, howeve...
The Supreme Court of Washington upheld the governor's approval of a wind energy project that had been rejected by the county in which the wind turbines will be placed. The Washington Energy Facilities Site Locations Act authorizes the state to permit the construction and operation of wind turbines f...
The Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing homeowners' negligence suit against a company for erroneously determining that their home was not located in a flood zone. Based on that determination, the homeowners were not required to obtain flood insurance under the National Flood Ins...
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision denying a motion to dismiss environmental groups' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) claim against the director of the South Carolina Department of Transportation concerning the construction of a bridge. The director argued that the claims aga...
The Indiana Supreme Court held that an agreed order for environmental cleanup between a manufacturing company and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) is an agency action governed by the Indiana Administrative Orders and Procedures Act, not a contract that will support a claim f...
A California appellate court held that the owner of a contaminated site may not intervene in an action between the prior owner and its insurer over coverage for the contamination. California law generally prohibits third parties from suing an insurer when they are not in contractual privity, and the...
The Federal Circuit held that conservation groups lack standing to pursue their Endangered Species Act (ESA) §9 claim against various federal agencies and officials for failing to enforce a ban on importing endangered and threatened fish but that they may have standing to challenge the agencies...
The D.C. Circuit upheld a final order issued by the Department of the Interior (DOI) requiring an energy company to retroactively recalculate royalties owed to the U.S. government under its lease to extract coalbed methane from federal land in Wyoming. In its disputed order, DOI held that the market...