The court holds that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction under the Migratory Bird Rule to require a consortium of municipalities to obtain a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §404 permit before filling ponds and lakes on a proposed landfill site. The court first holds that t...
The court upholds a district court decision finding that an intermunicipal agreement between a town and several villages concerning the disposal of solid waste does not violate the dormant U.S. Commerce Clause. The agreement required each village to deliver all waste generated within its jurisdictio...
The court holds that a state law preempted a county ordinance that placed a six-month moratorium on the construction of all sludge storage facilities, and, consequently, a wastewater firm could build a sludge storage facility in the county under an approved state sludge utilization permit. The court...
The court holds that a state land use board erred when it failed to affirm a county's preliminary approval of a residential subdivision in an area containing wetlands and designated as a wildlife habitat. The board rejected the county's argument that the wetlands at issue were not subject to the cou...
The court holds that a mine company cannot argue that a partial taking occurred when a county adopted a land use plan that designated a tract of the company's land as a river corridor where no mining could occur. The court first holds that the record is unclear as to what burden of proof the trial c...
The court holds that a state zoning board failed to properly consider the historical significance of an area before granting a granite mining operation a conditional use permit, and, therefore, the permit is vacated. A Native American village challenged the board's grant of the permit. The court fir...
The court holds that summary judgment was improvidently granted in favor of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a suit brought by property owners who claimed that the Corps' refusal to grant the owners a Clean Water Act (CWA) §404 dredge and fill permit for 50 acres of submerged lands constituted a...
The court holds that developers' sidecasting of dredged spoil in a jurisdictional wetland constitutes the discharge of a pollutant under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The court first holds that the deposit of dredged or excavated material from a wetland back into the same wetland constitutes the discha...
The court holds that a trial court incorrectly concluded that a city ordinance regulating junkyards was a zoning ordinance subject to notice-and-hearing requirements. A junkyard owner who had been cited for several violations of the ordinance claimed that the ordinance was inapplicable because it wa...
The court holds that a railroad's motion to dismiss a power company's Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) cost recovery action against it for lack of subject matter jurisdiction must be denied. The court first holds that the power company's allegation as co...