A California appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision granting an environmental group's petition for writ of mandamus challenging a county's approval of a mixed-use development project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The lower court corr...

A California appellate court held that the California Coastal Commission complied with the California Coastal Act and the California Environmental Quality Act when it certified a coastal development project along beachfront dune property in the city of Malibu. Petitioners argued that the commiss...

A Maryland appellate court held that the state's general discharge permit for animal feeding operations complies with the CWA and state law. The general permit authorizes certain discharges but imposes requirements regarding the management of manure and its application as fertilizer. Environment...

The Tenth Circuit held that an Oklahoma city and a Texas city that entered into water contracts with one another lack standing to challenge Oklahoma's water appropriation permitting process as unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause. The claims at issue here are based on a substantive provisi...

The Tenth Circuit held that Oklahoma statutes that favor in-state water appropriation permit applicants over out-of-state permit applicants do not violate the Commerce Clause. The case arose after a Texas water district sought permits to appropriate water from Oklahoma for use in Texas. Because Okla...

A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision denying a gasoline station owner's petition challenging the validity of $1,148,200 in civil penalties imposed against him by a county for underground gasoline storage tanks violations. The county issued an enforcement order to the owne...

A California appellate court held that a county complied with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) prior to approving the development of a large beverage distribution facility project. The plaintiff argued that the county failed to give the regional air quality district proper notice ...

A district court preliminarily enjoined the California transportation agency's proposal to widen a highway that runs through old-growth redwood trees in Richardson Grove State Park. Environmental groups challenged the project under NEPA, the Department of Transportation Act, the Wild and Scenic Rive...

A New York appellate court affirmed a lower court decision denying a company's motion for summary judgment in property owners' suit concerning damages arising from the discharge of trichloroethylene (TCE) into the ground from an industrial plant formerly operated by the company. The court properly d...

A Montana court preliminarily enjoined the state transportation agency from issuing permits to an oil company that would allow it to transport oversized oilfield equipment through the state to the Canadian border for use in tar sand and mining production in Alberta. The agency conducted an EA u...