A Wisconsin appellate court held that an insurer had no duty to defend a manufacturing company for various environmental cleanup costs. The insurer issued the company multiple excess insurance policies, all of which provide a duty to defend only if an occurrence is covered under the excess insurance...
The Federal Circuit held that the U.S. government is not liable for flood damages that property owners in the New Orleans area incurred following Hurricane Katrina. The property owners filed suit under the Tucker Act, alleging that the government's construction and operation of the Mississippi River...
A Colorado court, on motions for summary judgment, held that state and federal law preempt portions of a city ordinance concerning the regulation of oil and gas development within its boundaries. The provisions for minimum setbacks prohibit what state regulations would allow. As such, they are preem...
A district court dismissed environmental groups' NEPA and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) claims against BLM in connection with its approval of oil and gas drilling on public and tribal lands near Cacho Cultural National Historical Park. The court agreed that the groups have standing to pu...
The court holds that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) does not preempt a plastic company's state-law damage claim against a pesticide manufacturer for intentional interference with a prospective economic advantage. The company produces a nylon polymer bag intended to b...
The court affirms a district court holding that the Clean Water Act (CWA) does not require the state of New York to express its total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for phosphorous in terms of daily loads but remands the case to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to explain why New York's u...
ELR Digest
The court holds that the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) approval of a runway improvement project was not arbitrary or capricious under the Clean Air Act (CAA) or the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and, therefore, denies a city's petition for review. The court first h...
The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failed to provide adequate notice and opportunity to comment before issuing two final Clean Water Act national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) general permits allowing log transfer facility (LTF) operators in Alaska t...
The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was not arbitrary and capricious in its promulgation of pollutant discharge limitations for the bleached papergrade kraft and soda subcategory of the pulp and paper industry. The court first rejects environmental groups' claim that ...
The court denies housing industry associations' petition to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) decision to include all hazardous lead-containing dust and soil, regardless of source, within a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rule—known as the Lead Rule—that requires the ...