The court holds that New Jersey's self-sufficiency policy, whose goal is to eliminate the use of out-of-state disposal facilities by the year 2000, violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The state implemented the policy by either rejecting long-term out-of-state disposal contracts, i...

The court directs a district court to enjoin South Dakota state officials from relitigating in state court issues that the federal circuit court has already decided concerning the permitting of a solid waste disposal facility. In SDDS, Inc. v. South Dakota, 25 ELR 20967 (1995), the circuit court eff...

The court holds that South Carolina laws that limit the amount of out-of-state waste that may be disposed of in South Carolina violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. One statute requires South Carolina hazardous-waste facilities to reserve space for in-state waste and caps the amount ...

The court affirms a district court determination that §2001(k)(1) of the 1995 Rescissions Act is constitutional and does not violate separation of powers by permitting Congress to resurrect timber sales that federal courts have enjoined. The district court also correctly held that "offered" sales, ...

The court holds that the owners of a contaminated site may not recover damages for negligence, gross negligence, or strict liability from an oil company that previously owned the site and used it to dispose of oil-field waste. The court first holds that Texas' two-year statute of limitations for pro...

The court holds that native Alaskans may not bring a public nuisance action to recover damages for noneconomic "cultural" injuries they incurred as a result of the 1989 grounding of the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound. Plaintiff-appellant class of native Alaskans failed to prove any special inj...

The court affirms a district court decision that under Pennsylvania law a manufacturer is entitled to indemnification from its excess liability insurers for property damage resulting from environmental contamination at its manufacturing and disposal sites. The court first holds that the district cou...

The court holds that Washington oil spill prevention laws are not preempted by federal statute, do not violate the Commerce Clause or Foreign Affairs Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and are not improper extraterritorial restrictions. The court first holds that the language, structure, and legislati...

The court holds that the Endangered Species Act's (ESA's) prohibition on the "take" of endangered species is not unconstitutional as applied to purely local activities that affect a fly that exists only in California. The court first holds that the record clearly shows that wildlife in general, and ...

The court holds that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires the U.S. Forest Service to release to an environmental group management territory maps identifying Mexican spotted owl nest sites. The Forest Service may not withhold the maps under FOIA exemption 2, which permits withholding of inf...