A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision that denied in part petitions for writ of mandate of plaintiffs, public agencies and mutual water companies, challenging certain amendments made to a water quality control plan by a state water quality control board. Plaintiffs asserted th...

A California appellate court, in an eminent domain action concerning the valuation of property to be used in a highway project, held that a trial court correctly precluded the city's valuation method of the taken property. The city argued that the taken property should be valued based on its "agricu...

A district court denied New Jersey's motion to amend a 1997 consent decree concerning the Gloucester Environmental Management Services, Inc., landfill and ordered it to comply with the terms of the decree. The state alleged that the detection of the presence of radionuclides requires a new remedy fo...

The Supreme Court of California held that the California Coastal Commission's approval of a coastal development permit that straddles the coastal zone boundary conforms with the California Coastal Act of 1976. The Commission considered the ways in which the proposed development outside the coastal z...

The court affirmed a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of a power company charged with modifying its power plants without first obtaining permits in violation of the Clean Air Act's (CAA's) prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) provisions. The company updated its coal-fired ge...

The court dismissed a Florida resident's claims that three Wyoming statutes unconstitutionally limit hunting opportunities for nonresidents. The individual lacks standing to challenge the "guide statute" that creates two classes of hunters—resident and nonresident—for wilderness hunting because ...

A court upholds the denial of a citizen group's motion for attorney fees in its California Environmental Quality Act action against a city in connection with the approval of a retail warehouse construction project. There were no significant benefits derived by a large number or class of people as a ...

The court holds that the Director of the California Department of Conservation has standing to file a petition for a writ of mandate challenging a county's approval of reclamation plans and financial assurances for two surface mining operations. The Director's standing to pursue a writ of mandate is...

The court holds that the state of Utah lacks authority to regulate billboard advertising displays erected by a Native American tribe on land held in trust by the federal government. Section 465 of the Indian Reorganization Act—the statute authorizing acquisition of the land—does not violate the ...

The court vacates the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's equipment replacement provision (ERP) rule, which expanded the routine maintenance, repair, and replacement exclusion from new source review (NSR) requirements by allowing sources to avoid NSR when replacing equipment that does not exceed ...