A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision dismissing a citizen group's petition for writ of mandate challenging a city's approval of a shopping center. The group claimed that the city's certification of the final environmental impact report and its approval of a use permit for the...
A California appellate court upheld a county's environmental impact report (EIR) for a proposed sand, gravel, and granite mine located on ranchland near a stream. An environmental group argued that the county violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by failing to include and analyze ...
The court dismissed individuals' Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) suit against the U.S. military for personal injury and property damage resulting from the U.S. Navy's operation of a training facility on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. It is undisputed that the discretionary function exception generally ...
The court reversed the dismissal of an action challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) decision not to adopt a draft policy that would have provided guidance to zoos, research facilities, and other regulated entities in how to ensure the psychological well-being of non-human primate...
The court upheld a lower court decision denying a consortium of Florida growers' motions to amend their complaints against a fungicide manufacturer and entering summary judgment against them on their claims of fraudulent settlement, spoliation, and racketeering. The growers alleged that the fungicid...
The court affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision dismissing homeowners' suit against a former landowner for allegedly dumping hazardous waste on the property before selling it to a developer. The homeowners failed to plead fraud with sufficient particularity, and the lower cour...
The court held that Texas is a suitable alternative forum for a family's California survival and wrongful death action against a chemical manufacturer in a case involving their husband and father who contracted fatal leukemia due to his alleged exposure to chemicals in both California and Texas. The...
The court upheld the Atomic Safety Licensing Board's dismissal of environmental groups' intervention in early site permit proceedings for new nuclear power facilities in Clinton, Illinois. The groups contended, among other things, that the applicant failed to adequately consider energy efficiency or...
The court reversed an award of costs that a lower court made to an irrigation district after denying farmers' petition for a writ of mandate to enforce the California Environmental Quality Act with respect to a proposal to construct high-voltage electricity transmission lines across the farmers' pro...
The court held that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) environmental assessment (EA) for a logging project in Oregon violated the National Environmental Policy Act and that the lower court erred in dismissing the case as moot. Although the harvested trees cannot be restored, harm to old gro...