The Ninth Circuit upheld the U.S. Forest Service's ban on rock climbing on Cave Rock, a large rock formation on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe, Nevada. While the formation holds religious and cultural significance to a Native American tribe, the ban had a secular purpose and had no impermissible re...

The Third Circuit remanded a lower court decision that all of New Jersey's health, safety, and environmental regulations concerning the transfer of solid waste from truck to rail car were preempted by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act. In so ruling, the court found that all of the s...

The Ninth Circuit granted the U.S. Navy's emergency motion to stay a preliminary injunction prohibiting its use of sonar during training activities. Environmental groups argued that the Navy's use of sonar was harmful to the environment, particularly whales. The lower court issued an injunction, but...

The Eleventh Circuit reversed and remanded a lower court decision allowing a chicken plant owner's equal protection claims against various state and local officials to go forward. The owner filed a §1983 suit against the officials on the theory that they violated the owner's constitutional righ...

A district court held that an insurance company has a duty to defend, but not indemnify, a plumber and his employer in an underlying action concerning damages suffered by an individual who inhaled noxious fumes after the plumber poured chemicals down a clogged drain. Under Hawaiian case law, an insu...

The Montana Supreme Court held that where adequate alternative remedies exist under the common law or statute, the right to a clean and healthful environment under the Montana Constitution does not authorize a distinct cause of action in tort for money damages between two private parties. Downstream...

A district court denied the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) motion to preliminarily enjoin Nevada from interfering with DOE's use of water for bore hole drilling so that it may proceed with development and operation of the national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Despite an earlier s...

A district court dismissed environmental groups' claims that emergency orders issued by the state of Louisiana following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita conflict with and/or are preempted by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and the Clean Air Act (CAA). The or...

The court holds that sums agreed to be paid as a settlement of litigation are not subject to indemnification as "damages" under excess liability insurance policies. The case arose after a rocket and missile manufacturer sued for breach of contract and declaratory relief against its excess liability ...

The court holds that a lower court improperly dismissed Native Americans' case against the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for leasing tribal land to a developer to construct a liquefied natural gas terminal. The plaintiffs argued that the BIA failed to appraise the land, to prepare an environmental ...