The Supreme Court of California held that under some circumstances, an agency's agreement allowing private development, conditioned on future compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), constitutes approval of the project that must be preceded by the preparation of an environmen...
The Third Circuit held that a bankruptcy court properly allowed New York's claim for soil and groundwater contamination damages against a bankrupt gasoline distributor. New York obtained a default judgment against the distributor in state court after the distributor had filed for bankruptcy. The ban...
A California appellate court ordered a local air pollution district to assess the public health impacts of a rule requiring large confined animal facilities to choose from a variety of mitigation measures with the goal of reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. The air district adopted t...
A California appellate court reversed a lower court order requiring a city to set aside its water supply assessment prepared in connection with its general plan for future development. The assessment need not analyze water demands and projected pumping by all others taking water from the same ground...
A California appellate court reversed and remanded a lower court decision dismissing a consumer advocacy group's enforcement action against an oil company under California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, commonly known as Proposition 65. The group claimed that the company knowingly an...
A California appellate court upheld the dismissal of a citizen group's California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) claim against a city for approving three tract maps within a specific subdivision without requiring the applicant to comply with the subdivision plan's conditions for approval and mitig...
The Supreme Court of Washington upheld the governor's approval of a wind energy project that had been rejected by the county in which the wind turbines will be placed. The Washington Energy Facilities Site Locations Act authorizes the state to permit the construction and operation of wind turbines f...
The Indiana Supreme Court held that an agreed order for environmental cleanup between a manufacturing company and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) is an agency action governed by the Indiana Administrative Orders and Procedures Act, not a contract that will support a claim f...
A California appellate court held that the owner of a contaminated site may not intervene in an action between the prior owner and its insurer over coverage for the contamination. California law generally prohibits third parties from suing an insurer when they are not in contractual privity, and the...
A California appellate court held that a lower court properly applied the responsible corporate officer doctrine to hold the corporate officers of an entity that owned an underground storage tank personally liable for violations of the state's tank laws governing the underground storage of hazardous...