The court holds that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) does not apply to the Secretary of the Interior's designation of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The court first holds that an Oregon county has standing to challenge the Secretary's failure to comply with NEP...

The court holds that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims lacked jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §1500 over a manufacturer's claim for compensation under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution for response costs the manufacturer incurred cleaning up contaminated groundwater pursuant to a U.S. Enviro...

The court holds that a New Jersey landowner adequately stated a substantive due process claim under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when he alleged that a local zoning board arbitrarily or irrationally decided that the operation of a battery distribution business on his property vi...

The court holds that Wyoming hunting license regulations do not violate the Takings and Equal Protection Clauses of the U.S. Constitution. The regulations create separate pools for allocating licenses to residents and nonresidents and limit owners of 160 or more acres to two supplemental licenses. T...

The court denies the federal government's motion for summary judgment in a case where a farmer alleged that the government took his property without just compensation by ordering the farmer to cease operation of a drainage system and restore his property to its prior condition as wetlands. The court...

The First Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction over an electric company's challenge to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determination that ferric ferrocyanide is a hazardous substance under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Ferric fer...

The Court holds that the issue of liability in a developer's regulatory takings claim against a city was properly submitted to a jury. After the city imposed more rigorous demands each time it denied five proposals to develop a 37.6-acre oceanfront parcel in Monterey, California, the developer filed...

The court holds that a state court action brought by a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) potentially responsible party (PRP) to obtain from state documents pertaining to an environmental cleanup cannot be removed to federal court. In state court, the PRP ...

The court holds that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims improperly dismissed a city's breach of contract claims against the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) for lack of jurisdiction. The BPA was created to serve the Pacific Northwest's energy needs. If there is surplus energy, the BPA may sell it...

The court holds that it lacks jurisdiction over claims brought by environmental groups against various governmental agencies protesting the issuance by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) of 23 permits for various kinds of construction in Florida and their effect on the Florida panther. The...