An Ohio appellate court held that the sudden and accidental exceptions to pollution exclusion clauses contained in an aerospace manufacturing company's excess commercial insurance policies provide coverage for gradual releases of pollutants if the resulting damage is indivisible from the sudden and ...
The Supreme Court of Florida held that the state's environmental agency must pay a judgment entered against it for breaching a contract with a private company. Under the contract, the company agreed to finance, construct, and operate 143 vacation cabins and associated concessions in eight state park...
The Supreme Court of California invalidated a local agency's countywide property assessment intended to fund a program to acquire, improve, and maintain open space lands. The court first ruled that courts should exercise their independent judgment in reviewing whether assessments that local agencies...
The Federal Circuit held that conservation groups lack standing to pursue their Endangered Species Act (ESA) §9 claim against various federal agencies and officials for failing to enforce a ban on importing endangered and threatened fish but that they may have standing to challenge the agencies...
A California appellate court affirmed a trial court's writ of mandate directing the state's pesticide agency to work jointly and mutually with the state health department while formulating regulations relating to the safety of persons working with or around methyl bromide. Section 12981 of the Calif...
The Supreme Court of California overturned the state forestry agency's approval of a master plan for the intensive logging of old growth redwoods and other trees on a lumber company's property in Humboldt County as well as the agency's issuance of an incidental take permit, but otherwise affirmed a ...
The Ninth Circuit held that a Canadian corporation that markets and distributes electric power in the United States is a "foreign state" within the meaning of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 and, therefore, is entitled to a federal bench trial in a case alleging it had "manipulated the ...
A district court issued a preliminary injunction limiting the amount of cattle grazing allowed on conservation reserve program (CRP) lands. In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began a critical feed use haying and grazing program on CRP lands to deal with rising feed prices. But in so d...
A California appellate court upheld the dismissal of a continuing nuisance claim brought by the owners of contaminated property against the former owners for damages stemming from a prospective lender's refusal to refinance the property. Specifically, the owners sought to recover interest rate diffe...
A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision dismissing property owners' suit seeking damages against a city for inverse condemnation, nuisance, and trespass stemming from erosion caused by a faulty storm drain. The trial court concluded the city could not be held liable for erosion ...