The Sixth Circuit affirmed, except with respect to the award of attorney fees, a lower court's approval of a settlement agreement concerning residents' class action lawsuit against a neighboring steel mill. The $4.45 million settlement distributed $300 to each covered member of the class, limited to...

The Alaska Supreme Court held that a proposed clean water initiative relating to the regulation of large-scale metallic mineral mines was constitutionally and statutorily permissible and was qualified to appear on a statewide 2008 election ballot. The initiative would not make a constitutionally imp...

The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court decision dismissing a Philippine island's action claiming that an American company polluted its waters. According to the complaint, Placer Dome severely polluted the lands and waters of Marinduque for some 30 years, caused two cataclysmic envi...

A California appellate court remanded in part a lower court decision denying a paint manufacturing association's petition challenging amendments to an air district rule limiting the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) allowed in various kinds of paints and coatings. The association argued th...

The Federal Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision in favor of the U.S. government on claims that it breached certain contracts between the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and California water districts concerning Central Valley Project water resources. The lower court concl...

The Court of Federal Claims held that a livestock operator was collaterally estopped from litigating the issue of ownership to a right-of-way, thereby defeating its takings claim against the BLM for dismantling a water diversion structure on federal land and preventing the operator's access to the s...

A district court dismissed an Eskimo village's nuisance claim against 24 oil, energy, and utility companies for their alleged contribution to climate change. The village claimed that the companies are responsible for a substantial portion of the greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to clim...

The Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing Mississippi residents' class action lawsuit against several energy, fossil fuel, and chemical companies for their alleged contribution to climate change. The residents argued that the companies intentionally and unreasonably used their pro...

The Tenth Circuit reversed a lower court decision denying a railroad company's motion to intervene in the United State's CERCLA §107 action against 44 PRPs concerning a hazardous waste site owned by the railroad company. The government lodged a consent decree memorializing a settlement agreement th...

The Sixth Circuit held that a group of residents lacked standing to challenge the TVA's implementation of a land management plan for a nearby reservoir under NEPA and the Tennessee Valley Authority Act. The residents failed to connect the procedural harm alleged in their complaint—the creation of ...