A California appellate court held that a county was required to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) prior to adopting an ordinance that restricts the application of sewage sludge on land located within its jurisdiction. CEQA requires the...

The California Supreme Court held that when a regional water board issues a permit to a wastewater treatment facility, it may not consider economic factors to justify imposing pollutant restrictions that are less stringent than the applicable federal standards, but it may take into account economic ...

The Fifth Circuit, in a class action suit, reversed in part, vacated in part, and remanded for further proceedings a lower court decision dismissing landowners' Fifth Amendment takings claims arising from the conversion of a railroad right-of-way to a recreational trail traversing their land. The la...

A California appellate court reversed a trial court's award of costs to a company that was delegated the task of preparing the administrative record in a planning association's California Environmental Quality Act claim against a city. The city's delegation of this task to the company without the as...

The Texas Supreme Court held that a utility company knowingly violated the Texas Water Code by charging its customers unauthorized fees. There is legally sufficient evidence in the record to support the trial court's finding that the utility company knew it was charging fees that were not approved o...

A California appellate court upheld two irrigation districts' decisions to assign water rights to a city. The districts did not improperly segment environmental review of the two assignment approvals. The assignments involved separate water rights, they transfer different amounts of water, and they ...

The Fifth Circuit vacated the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) decision that two natural gas pipelines perform a "transportation" function rather than a "gathering" function, thereby subjecting them to FERC jurisdiction's under the Natural Gas Act. Natural gas flows from gathering pip...

The Second Circuit held that a Vermont environmental land use statute cannot impose preconstruction permit requirements on proposed railroad transloading facilities. The statute's preconstruction permit requirements are preempted by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act. The permit requ...

The Federal Circuit upheld the dismissal of landowners' inverse condemnation suit against the federal government alleging that their property was contaminated by trichloroethylene (TCE) as the result of government actions at a U.S. Air Force base. The landowners failed to point to some evidence pres...

A California appellate court reversed the approval of a land exchange agreement that conveyed out of the public trust 3 acres of former tidelands that have been filled in exchange for 10 acres along the Los Angeles River. California Public Resource Code §6307 requires that the underlying purpos...