The court grants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) motion for summary judgment that agency documents regarding adoption of state regulations as applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) at specific Superfund sites are exempt from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) d...

The court, applying New York law, holds that indemnification provisions in an asset purchase agreement between a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Recovery Act (CERCLA) defendant and a third-party defendant, when read in connection with a lease related to the agreement, are amb...

The court holds that a nonprofit organization has standing to seek a preliminary injunction to prevent the implementation of a research study by the Department of Agriculture (DOA) on the transmission of brucellosis from wild bison in Yellowstone National Park to cattle outside the park without DOA ...

The court holds that the Federal Rules of Evidence, and not the common-law "general acceptance" test, provide the standard for admitting expert scientific testimony in a federal trial. The petitioners, two children with serious birth defects and their parents, sued the respondent alleging that the b...

The court holds that a county ordinance imposing strict regulations on persons and corporations that import out-of-county waste for disposal in the county is subject to strict scrutiny under the Commerce Clause. Following the Supreme Court's holding in Ft. Gratiot Sanitary Landfill, Inc. v. Michigan...

The court holds unconstitutional the requirement in §609(a) of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Appropriations Act of 1990 that the executive branch initiate discussions with foreign nations to develop treaties to protect sea turtles, and holds that the Co...

The court holds that state statutory provisions authorizing regulations that impose a surcharge on disposal of out-of-state solid waste are unconstitutional and severable, but that the surcharge does not violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court first holds that the surcharge r...

The court holds that the United States is not liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act for response costs incurred by an insurance company following a determination by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the company was responsible under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensati...

The court holds that the attachment to landowners' development permits of conditions that require landowners to dedicate portions of their property for public use is not a taking of property that violates the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A city granted the landowners' application for re...

The Seventh Circuit upholds a district court's grant of summary judgment to the defendant prior owner of a petroleum carrying pipeline on plaintiffs landowners' claim for nuisance damages from a 1944 leak of unleaded gasoline. In 1986, while trying to sell the land, the landowners discovered petrole...