The court holds that a township ordinance limiting development in "critical areas," including wetlands, is constitutional and is not preempted by the New Jersey Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act. However, the section of the ordinance reducing the permissible area available for development on proper...

The court rules that the federal question statute, §702 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and §113(b) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) do not imply a waiver of the United States' sovereign immunity in a potentially responsible party's (...

The court holds that response costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) are "damages" under a comprehensive general liability insurance policy. The court first holds that "damages" under the policy is not given its technical legal meaning as a rem...

The court rules that the provision of the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act (SWMA) authorizing warrantless inspections does not violate the United States or Pennsylvania Constitutions. The court holds that the open fields doctrine does not apply, since the state investigator was inside a build...

The court holds that amendments to the South Carolina Beachfront Management Act preventing construction within 20 feet of the coastal baseline constitute a taking of plaintiffs' property. The statutes create no-construction zones in the town of Hilton Head Island that prevent plaintiffs from constru...

The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) approval of the Clean Air Act state implementation plans (SIPs) for Maricopa and Pima Counties in Arizona was arbitrary and capricious, and orders EPA to develop federal implementation plans (FIPs) within six months. The court first ...

The court holds that a man-made lagoon is not subject to a federal navigational servitude requiring general public access. The lagoon was formerly a privately owned fishpond that was not capable of supporting navigation in interstate commerce. A developer constructed the lagoon in its present naviga...

The court holds that the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) erroneously determined that §212 of the Staggers Act, which bars claims of discrimination involving rail rates applicable to different routes, does not apply to recyclable commodities. The ICC had concluded that since Congress intended t...

The court holds that an agreement requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to process expeditiously a claim under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for indemnification of losses on stocks of the pesticide, Dinoseb, existing at the time the Dinoseb registratio...

The Supreme Court holds that the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) covers attorney fees in all phases of successful civil litigation addressed by the Act, so that once a court determines that the United States was not " substantially justified" in the underlying litigation on the merits, fees incur...