The Tenth Circuit dismissed a landowner organization's appeal of a district court order upholding the DOI's decision to acquire certain property in trust for the 19 Indian Pueblos of New Mexico. To the extent the organization's requested relief would divest the United States of title to the property...

A California appellate court affirmed a jury finding that established a prescriptive easement for a restaurant to cross its neighbor's property in order to make deliveries. To establish a claim of right to a prescriptive easement, the claimant need not believe he or she is legally entitled to use of...

A California appellate court affirmed a referee's decision that a proposed pipeline easement unreasonably interfered with a railroad right-of-way and proposed second track and that condemnation was not warranted. A railroad sought to move a pipeline existing in the railroad’s right-of-way in or...

The D.C. Circuit vacated an EPA rule authorizing the use of two ozone-depleting foam insulation agents as substitutes for an ozone-depleting chemical scheduled to be phased out in 2003. EPA’s reliance on economic constraints requires reversal of its rule. EPA argued that the rule relied on tech...

The Eighth Circuit held that individuals could not be criminally prosecuted under the CWA for discharging raw sewage from a towbarge moored on the Mississippi River and used as a restaurant, bar, and gas station. Although sewage is considered a pollutant under the CWA, "sewage from vessels" is exclu...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court's dismissal of an environmental group's CWA suit against a manufacturing company, finding that the group's intent to sue letter provided the company sufficient notice of its claims. The group properly notified the company of its intent to sue at least 60 days...

The Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that a taking occurred when a property owner's interest in an unused railroad easement was converted to a public recreation trail under the Rails-to-Trails Act without just compensation. Under the shifting use rule as applied in California, a publi...

The Eighth Circuit upheld the FWS' denial of a river outfitter's application for an special use permit (SUP) to provide canoe, tube, and kayak outfitting on the Niobrara River in the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge. The outfitter failed to prove that the FWS' temporary moratorium on issuing S...

A district court held that nationwide permit (NWP) 21, which authorizes the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States associated with surface coal mining and reclamation operations, does not comply with the plain language, structure, and legislative history of the CWA. D...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that the U.S. Forest Service's issuance of a permit to operate a bison capture facility in Montana did not violate the ESA or NEPA. The Forest Service, along with the FWS, agreed that the facility might adversely affect certain bald eagle populations...