The court vacates a district court decision granting summary judgment in favor of an oil company claiming that a Hawaii statute proscribing the maximum rent that oil companies can collect from dealers who lease company-owned service stations is an unconstitutional regulatory taking. The court first ...
The court holds that under Virginia law, an insurer has a duty to defend operators of a dry cleaning business from a suit seeking to hold the operators liable for soil and groundwater contamination. The insurer issued a comprehensive general liability policy to the operators for the period of 1991 t...
The court affirms in part and reverses in part various rulings made by a district court resolving the claims and counterclaims of a lessee and three lessors of several oil and gas leases in Huerfano County, Colorado. The lessors' general claim was that the lessee breached the lease agreements by und...
The court upholds the validity of an Ohio state regulation that requires owners and operators of underground storage tanks (USTs) who wish to receive compensation from the state's UST fund to submit an eligibility application to the state UST compensation board within one year of the date that an ac...
The court dismisses a property owner's complaint alleging that a New York City watershed memorandum of agreement (MOA) and its regulations violated the U.S. Constitution, the state constitution, and state statutory and common law. The court first holds that the owner's claims that the MOA and its re...
The court vacates and remands a district court decision that enjoined U.S. Forest Service timber harvesting in the National Forests of Texas due to on-the-ground Forest Service violations of the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). Because the NFMA does not provide for judicial review, the Adminis...
The court reverses the state environmental department's disapproval of a groundwater contamination plan submitted by an electrical manufacturer. The state agency required the electrical manufacturer to use state groundwater quality standards (GWQS) and technical rules as minimum remediation standard...
The court holds that the modification of a protected species' habitat may constitute a taking under the New York State Endangered Species Act. Property owners discovered a timber rattlesnake den near their property line and informed the state environmental agency that they intended to build a fence ...
A court holds that under the Pennsylvania Hazardous Sites Clean-Up Act (HSCA), the owner of property once used for a landfill may not recover from previous owners the costs of testing the property for hazardous substances. The court first holds that the previous owners are responsible parties within...
The court reverses a trial court decision ordering the California Coastal Commission to set aside its denial of landowners' request for a coastal development permit to expand horse stables and boarding facilities on their property and to rehear the matter to determine whether the property included p...