The Court affirms a Third Circuit decision that a class-action certification seeking settlement of current and future asbestos-related claims failed to satisfy the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 23. The Court first notes that the Third Circuit should have acknowledged that settlement is relevant to...

The court holds that a state's solid waste disposal program that requires the identification of additional capacity for out-of-state waste before a plan is approved does not violate the U.S. Commerce Clause. The court first holds that the program does not facially discriminate against interstate com...

The court holds that a ranch owner with inholdings within the Apache National Forest and the Gila River Forest Reserve in New Mexico does not have a preexisting patent right or a common-law easement allowing access to the inholdings. The court first holds that the government's claims regarding the r...

The court holds that future Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) contribution actions by settling private defendants against private nonsettlors at a New York Superfund site will be governed by the Uniform Comparative Fault Act (UCFA) and CERCLA §113(f)(1),...

The court holds that the Quiet Title Act does not require the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) to refer the determination of chain of title mining claims to the federal district court. Appellants claimed that the IBLA's failure to refer the claims violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)...

The court holds that owners of property atop South Mountain in Washington County, Maryland, were not entitled to an increase in the amount awarded them in a condemnation proceeding. The property owners contend that the district court erred in granting the U.S. government's motion in limine seeking t...

The court holds that Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §107 cost recovery actions are not available to potentially responsible parties (PRPs) and that divisibility of harm is not a defense to §113 contribution claims. The court first holds that CERCLA d...

The court affirms the denial of landowners' untimely demand for a jury trial on the issue of just compensation in a condemnation proceeding initiated by the United States. The United States was attempting to obtain 42 acres of the landowners' property for the purposes of administering, preserving, a...

The court holds that plaintiffs in a toxic tort case produced sufficient evidence to show that a piece of furniture emitted levels of gaseous formaldehyde known to cause the type of injuries suffered by the plaintiffs' child. The court first holds that the plaintiffs produced substantial evidence of...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service's consideration of a fire's effects on a proposed timber sale in the Colville National Forest in Washington was not arbitrary and capricious. After a fire burned 10,000 acres, including 133 acres of the proposed timber harvest area, the Forest Service pre...