The court reverses a district court decision and holds that a group of developers may intervene as of right in a suit brought by environmental groups against a city and against local, state, and federal officials for violating a state environmental plan and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The city...

The court upholds the reversal of a trial court's grant of judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) in favor of a chemical manufacturer that was denied insurance coverage for soil, groundwater, and surface water pollution at one of its sites. Shortly after purchasing the site in 1964, the manufac...

The court holds that losses from environmental injury claims involving decades of commercial activities at numerous industrial and waste disposal sites may not be aggregated as a single disaster and/or casualty under an insurance policy between an insurer and its reinsurer. The insurer sought paymen...

The court vacates a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of a Vermont labeling statute as it applies to manufacturers of mercury-containing light bulbs. The court first holds that the lamp manufacturing association challenging the statute failed to show a likelihood of success on the merits of...

The court reverses a district court's decision dismissing building owners' U.S. Commerce Clause claims against a waste authority for lack of standing. The building owners maintained that the authority's implementation of a waste generation fee structure effectively forced them to use the local facil...

The court holds that the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) may require applicants for land allotments under the Alaska Native Allotment Act (ANAA) to prove personal use and occupancy independent of immediate family members prior to withdrawal of the land from the public domain. The IBLA denied t...

The court reverses a lower court decision finding the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) liable for the permanent taking of a mining company's leasehold property. The mining company applied to the OSM for a permit and was told that its application was administratively incompl...

The court dismisses an individual's appeal of a district court order dismissing his motion to vacate two Resource Conservation and Recovery Act criminal convictions and adopting a magistrate judge's report and recommendation (R&R) to dismiss the individual's habeas corpus petition. The individua...

The court holds that a Pennsylvania township and its supervisors did not violate a developer's substantive due process rights by conspiring to delay and obstruct the developer's construction of an industrial park. The developer claims that the township and its supervisors conspired to delay the coun...

The court denies a bankrupt environmental management company's motions to dismiss property owners' Declaratory Judgment Act (DJA) action for lack of venue and failure to state a claim. The property owners sought a judgment declaring that the company had violated the Clean Air Act when it improperly ...