The U.S. Supreme Court holds that the criminal conviction of a hazardous waste facility operator under a Pennsylvania hazardous waste statute for operating a hazardous waste facility without a permit violated the federal Due Process Clause. When the operator was convicted, he in fact had a permit, b...
The court affirms the Court of Federal Claims' dismissal of individuals' claims that the enactment of the Seneca Nation Land Claims Settlement Act (SNLCSA) constituted a taking of property rights that the individuals held on the Allegany Reservation of the Seneca Nation of Indians (SNI). The individ...
The court holds that a natural gas storage facility operator may go forward with its federal preemption action against a state environmental agency in which it seeks a declaratory judgment enjoining the agency from revisiting its issuance of various state permits to the operator. After the operator'...
The court holds that a developer's right to procedural due process was violated when a county planning agency failed to provide a hearing to the developer before halting a previously approved land development project, but that a district court correctly granted the county's summary judgment motion a...
The court affirms the dismissal of a community association's motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the construction of a 4-lane, 77-mile highway around Nashville, Tennessee. Although the highway has been exclusively funded by the state, the association argued that the federal government failed...
The court affirms a district court dismissal of a residential complex's claim that a city's municipal waste disposal ordinance violates the U.S. Commerce Clause. The ordinance requires all waste to be deposited at the city's disposal area and all city businesses and residents to have their waste col...
The court affirms a district court dismissal of an Ohio solid waste collection company's claim that a county's waste processing rules violated the company's constitutional rights. The county adopted rules that required the county's waste to be disposed of in county-designated landfills that agreed t...
The court reverses a district court decision holding that although a Florida city's rezoning of property to prohibit the operation of a wood-chipping business constituted an unconstitutional taking, damages should not be awarded to the business. The city approved the business' operation on a propose...
The court holds that the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) preempted a municipal ordinance requiring a railroad to cut weeds along its right-of-way within the municipality. The FRSA regulates every area of railroad safety, and the Act preempts all railroad safety legislation except for specific sta...
The court denies petitions to review the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) decisions to categorically exclude the closure of a Missouri city's airport from the National Environmental Policy Act's (NEPA's) environmental assessment (EA) requirement and to release the city's federal obligation ...