The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court's entry of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. government dismissing a property owner's claim that he is entitled to an easement to access his property located within Glacier National Park. The National Park Service (NPS) allowed inholders some degree of mo...

The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the state's approval of a public utility's petition to construct an integrated gasification combined-cycle electric power plant. A statutory requirement that the state value property that is "used and useful" in determining rate base of a public utility does not c...

A California appellate court held that a county violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the county's general plan, and the state water code when it issued a conditional use permit allowing a proposed mining project on preserved agricultural land. The environmental impact report (EI...

A California appellate court held that an environmental group challenging proposed revisions to a solid waste facility permit for a local landfill is entitled to an administrative hearing before the county. The county denied the group's hearing request, reasoning that only operators, not third parti...

The Seventh Circuit upheld a lower court order enjoining a power company from building a coal-fired power plant without first obtaining a new prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permit from the state of Illinois. The state's environmental agency granted the company a PSD permit in 2001. Th...

The Supreme Court of California held that under some circumstances, an agency's agreement allowing private development, conditioned on future compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), constitutes approval of the project that must be preceded by the preparation of an environmen...

The Third Circuit held that a bankruptcy court properly allowed New York's claim for soil and groundwater contamination damages against a bankrupt gasoline distributor. New York obtained a default judgment against the distributor in state court after the distributor had filed for bankruptcy. The ban...

A California appellate court ordered a local air pollution district to assess the public health impacts of a rule requiring large confined animal facilities to choose from a variety of mitigation measures with the goal of reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. The air district adopted t...

A California appellate court reversed a lower court order requiring a city to set aside its water supply assessment prepared in connection with its general plan for future development. The assessment need not analyze water demands and projected pumping by all others taking water from the same ground...

A California appellate court reversed and remanded a lower court decision dismissing a consumer advocacy group's enforcement action against an oil company under California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, commonly known as Proposition 65. The group claimed that the company knowingly an...