A California appellate court held that a subdivision project that a county initially approved but for which subsequent delays caused the tentative map to expire is not a new project for purposes of environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Nothing significant about ...

The Supreme Court of Connecticut held that an individual convicted for storing and disposing of hazardous waste without a permit in violation of state law is entitled to a new trial due to improper jury instructions. The trial court improperly charged the jury as to the elements of "disposal" and "s...

A California appellate court held that a property owner may not intervene in an insurance coverage dispute between an insurance company and the former property owner from which the current owner seeks contribution. The current owner argued that it has a legitimate interest in making coverage argumen...

The Fourth Circuit held that the Natural Gas Act (NGA) preempts a county bill prohibiting the siting of any liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal within 1,000 feet from the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The bill is an amendment to the state's critical management plan (CMP) because it imposes a ...

The Ninth Circuit vacated in part, reversed in part, and remanded a lower court decision denying environmental groups' request to intervene in a Quiet Title Act action concerning a county's use of a road on U.S. Forest Service land in Nevada. The groups are entitled to intervene because they have th...

The Ninth Circuit held that federal law preempts Washington State's Cleanup Priority Act, a statute enacted through the passage of a voter initiative. The Act was intended to "prevent the addition of new radioactive and hazardous waste" at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation site until cleanup of existi...

The Supreme Court of California reversed a lower court decision in favor of conservation groups challenging the state forestry department's approval of three timber harvest plans that allow logging on private land in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The department's selection of geographic areas for ass...

The Third Circuit dismissed New Jersey's petition for review of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) guidance document that proposes a long-term control license for facilities that decommission under restricted release regulations but cannot find adequate institutional controls. The guidance docume...

The Ninth Circuit held that a district court had the authority to order and enforce the pretrial disclosures of government witnesses and evidentiary documents in a pending criminal case concerning a mining operation in Libby, Montana. A district court, consistent with Rules 2 and 16 of the Federal R...

A California appellate court upheld the dismissal of a homeowners association's claim against the California Coastal Commission for requiring it to pay an in-lieu mitigation fee as a condition of a permit to build a seawall. The seawall would cause passive erosion that would eventually eliminate an ...