A district court denied motions to remand to state court residents' class action lawsuit against corporate farms for nuisance, negligence, and property damage. The residents originally filed suit in state court, but the farms removed the case to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAF...

New York's highest court overturned a lower court decision annulling a city's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) determination regarding a proposed municipal project. An environmental group argued that the EIS was deficient for failing to evaluate possible threats to protected species. T...

The Louisiana Supreme Court held that property owners who leased their land for oil and gas development were not required to give oil companies pre-suit notice or an opportunity to perform prior to filing their suit against the companies for property contamination. The companies argued that Article ...

The Second Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that a local fire department that responded to a fire at a commercial building during which hazardous materials were released into the environment is not liable under CERCLA. Because the fire department had exclusive control over the building at the...

The Ninth Circuit held that waterfront homeowners who built shoreline defense structures on U.S. tideland property held in trust for a Native American tribe are liable for common law trespass and for violating the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1899 (RHA). Between 1963 and 1988, the homeow...

A district court denied motions to remand to state court individuals' class action nuisance lawsuit against 11 industrial companies stemming from their release of toxic chemicals in and around East Gary, Indiana. The individuals originally filed the suit in state court, but the companies removed the...

A California appellate court held that a local transportation agency's bus fare increase was statutorily exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Bus riders filed a petition for writ of mandate, arguing that the agency's use of the exemption, which remo...

A district court held that used potassium hydroxide (KOH) shipped for reuse to a fertilizer company is a "waste" under RCRA. An aerospace casings manufacturer argued that the used KOH it shipped to the fertilizer company was not waste because it was not a "spent material." But EPA's interpretation t...

The Eighth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing an environmental group's complaint against EPA challenging its approval of Iowa's CWA §303(d) list. The group argued that because Iowa failed to consider all relevant data, including its §305(b) report, EPA also failed to consid...

A district court held that a city sewer is not excluded from CERCLA's expansive definition of "facility." A property owner filed suit against the city for contamination stemming, in part, from a leaky sewer line. The city then filed a motion for partial summary judgment, arguing that it should not b...