The Ninth Circuit held that a Canadian corporation that markets and distributes electric power in the United States is a "foreign state" within the meaning of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 and, therefore, is entitled to a federal bench trial in a case alleging it had "manipulated the ...

A district court held that neither a coalition of agricultural water users nor a recreational water user has standing to challenge the state's striped bass fishing regulations under the Endangered Species Act. The plaintiffs argued that the regulations cause the unlawful take of species listed under...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision dismissing a nonprofit corporation's action against a railroad company for contribution under Washington's Model Toxics Control Act. The lower court held that the corporation lacked standing because it was obligated to pay any money it recovered to a...

The court holds that a consent judgment under which the United States acquired title to Horn Island in the Gulf of Mexico is null and void. Plaintiff-appellants had contracted to sell a portion of the island to the United States, which sought it as part of a proposed national park. The United States...

The court holds that, as applied to industrial truck manufacturers and distributors, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) hazard communication standard (HCS) preempt enforcement of the occupational warning requirements unde...

The court holds that a Wisconsin farming family's state-law claims against a pesticide manufacturer are preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The family filed negligence and fraudulent representation claims based on the manufacturer's alleged off-label stateme...

The court holds that a district court has subject matter jurisdiction to determine whether a city, in light of its post-settlement actions, is estopped from refusing to approve a waste management company's construction of buildings on the south side of landfill property. A settlement agreement betwe...

The court holds that a U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) rule concerning natural resource damage (NRD) assessments under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) does not violate the Administrative Procedure Act or CERCLA. The rule, challenged by a manuf...

The court affirms that the denial of a Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) permit did not breach a contract between a developer and the government of the Virgin Islands allowing for the development of an island off the coast of St. Thomas. The court first holds that the agreement unambiguously grants...

The court holds that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' determination that landowners' property comprised jurisdictional wetlands, which resulted in the recision of a private contract for the sale of the property, did not constitute a compensable taking. The court first holds that the cancellation of t...