The court holds that environmental organizations have standing to assert an Endangered Species Act (ESA) §9 claim against a lumber company whose timber harvesting operations are allegedly causing the take of coho salmon. The court first holds that the organizations have satisfied each of the elemen...

The court holds that under the Clean Air Act (CAA), federal entities cannot remove to federal court state and local government actions to enforce air quality laws. A California air quality management district brought a suit against the United States in state court seeking civil penalties for a U.S. ...

The court holds that property owners and residents failed to satisfy Endangered Species Act (ESA) §11 notice requirements in their suit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) concerning an emergency housing project's alleged taking of endangered and threatened turtle species, but th...

The court holds that a Louisiana statute allowing direct appeal of decisions of the state Department of Environmental Quality to the state court of appeal, bypassing the state district courts, is unconstitutional, and the public rights doctrine has no application under the Louisiana Constitution. Th...

The court holds that the district court erred in holding that environmental groups lack standing in their Federal Water Pollution Control Act citizen suit challenging the Department of Energy's (DOE's) proposed reopening of a nuclear reactor at the Savannah River site in South Carolina. The reactor ...

The court holds that a computer circuit manufacturer is entitled to reimbursement under its comprehensive general liability insurance policy of expenses incurred pursuant to a government consent decree requiring it to clean up toxic waste contamination at a former manufacturing facility. The court f...

The court holds that nonprofit organizations interested in protecting and preserving the waters of Ascension Parish, Louisiana, do not have standing to sue. The court finds that the organizations did not allege specific facts showing a direct injury to any of their members sufficient to confer stand...

The Court rules that a South Carolina beachfront regulation that prohibits construction seaward of a setback line cannot be sustained without paying just compensation for a developer's lost use of two vacant beachfront lots. The developer bought the lots, located on a South Carolina barrier island, ...

The court overrules a state appellate court decision holding that two bankruptcy trustees may be personally liable for violating Wisconsin's hazardous waste act after being appointed trustees in a liquidation proceeding. The state alleged that the trustees had allowed hazardous waste to be stored fo...

The court holds that a district court erred when it interpreted pollution exclusion clauses in comprehensive general liability (CGL) insurance policies as not relieving an insurer of its duty to defend and reimburse an insured for its liability at hazardous waste sites. A defense industry manufactur...