A New York court upheld a town's zoning amendment that bans hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) within its jurisdiction. The zoning amendment was enacted in response to a petition from town residents concerned about hydrofracking's impact on ground and surface water supplies. An energy company ...

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a state court decision that Montana may charge rent from an electric company that owns dams on the Missouri, Madison, and Clark Fork rivers. The Montana Supreme Court held that title to the riverbeds passed to Montana when it became a state in 1889 and awarded alm...

A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision upholding a county's adoption of an oak woodland management plan and mitigation fee program without preparing an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The county issued a negative decl...

A New York trial court held that the state environmental agency's general permit for stormwater discharges from municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4) violates the CWA and state law. By allowing discharges based on an applicant's notice of intent (NOI) to discharge, the permitting scheme c...

A district court dismissed a property owner's RCRA claim against an oil company for benzene contamination present in the basement of one of his buildings. The evidence fails to establish that there may be an imminent and substantial danger to human health or the environment. The owner does not u...

A California appellate court upheld a lower court decision dismissing a petition to compel the state's parks and recreation department to ban off-highway vehicle recreation on certain leased portions of the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreational Area. It is too late to review the 1982 coastal...

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A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a petition challenging an air district's abatement order directing the owners of an open-pit mining operation to cease operation of the central plant equipment and all internal combustion engines with a rating greater than 5...

New York's highest court upheld regulations promulgated by the state's environmental agency that require inactive hazardous waste disposal sites to be restored to pre-disposal conditions. A coalition of commercial property owners argued that the regulations are ultra vires and impermissibly allow th...

A California appellate court held that a state agency's certification of an environmental impact report (EIR) and approval of a master plan for the expansion of a state university violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In certifying the EIR and approving the project, the agenc...