The court holds that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) fulfilled its statutory obligations under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) to ensure that Nevada had sufficient funds enabling it to perform essential nuclear waste dump oversight activities at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The court first holds ...

The court holds that Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity bars an environmental group's suit against a state environmental agency challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's grant of a migratory bird depredation permit to the state agency. The court first holds that the state environmental age...

The court holds that the Eleventh Amendment bars all but two claims brought by citizen groups in federal court against a state official accused of failing to implement, administer, enforce, and maintain a federally approved state coal mining program under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation A...

The court holds that the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection violated the Clean Air Act (CAA) by failing to implement state implementation plan (SIP)-required emission standards for the state's enhanc...

A district court held that the FWS violated NEPA, but not the ESA, when it issued a special rule that specifies the protective mechanisms that apply to the polar bear as a result of its threatened status. In May 2008, the FWS listed the polar bear as threatened under the ESA. The Service then issued...

The court holds that the permit administrator and South Carolina Coastal Council's denial of an application to build a new bulkhead on beachfront property in violation of the state Coastal Zone Management Act does not constitute an unconstitutional taking of the land between the existing and propose...

The court upholds a Connecticut municipality's regulation requiring owners of land partially within designated wetlands areas to obtain municipal approval before erecting structures on the land's nonwetlands portion. The court first holds that the regulation does not impermissibly expand the jurisdi...

The court holds that a Louisiana statute allowing direct appeal of decisions of the state Department of Environmental Quality to the state court of appeal, bypassing the state district courts, is unconstitutional, and the public rights doctrine has no application under the Louisiana Constitution. Th...

The court holds that a state-imposed public easement over private beachfront property is not a compensable taking, and the risk that some property would be lost to the sea was assumed at purchase. After hurricane Alicia in 1983 and the storm tides in 1988, the private beach properties were left part...

The court holds that the district court improperly ruled on summary judgment that two Ohio statutes regulating the import of solid waste generated in other states for disposal in Ohio violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The statutes establish higher fees for wastes generated outsi...