The court holds that because Title VI proscribes only intentional discrimination, residents of a predominantly minority community do not have a right to enforce through 42 U.S.C. §1983 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Title VI §602 disparate impact discrimination regulations agai...

The court affirms a trial court holding that no insurance coverage existed for 21 of a company's contaminated landfill sites. For purposes of determining if the company's insurance applied, the court set forth four categories of sites. The first category is one where the insured is responsible for c...

The court affirms the dismissal of a landowner's due process and equal protection claims against a zoning board that denied the landowner's application for a building permit, but reverses the denial of the landowner's motion to amend the complaint to include a First Amendment retaliation claim. The ...

The court holds that although conservation officers conducted a search and seizure without a warrant and within the curtilage of individuals' home, the officers enjoyed qualified immunity. The individuals own an undeveloped tract of 50 acres that abuts a state park in which no hunting is allowed. Th...

The court affirms a district court decision holding that an organization lacked standing to seek judicial review of a proposed land transaction between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), a city, and a private developer that would protect sensitive wetlands and wildlife habitat. Under the tran...

The court affirms in part and reverses in part a district court decision upholding National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regulations providing a Native American tribe an allocation of the Pacific whiting fishery. In the 1850s, Washington State entered into several treaties known as the Stevens Tr...

The court holds that the New York Air Pollution Mitigation Law is preempted by the Clean Air Act (CAA) and violates the U.S. Commerce Clause. Under Air Pollution Mitigation Law §66-k, an electric generator is assessed an offset penalty when it sells a sulfur dioxide (SO2) allowance to a generator i...

The court affirms a district court decision enjoining federal administrative proceedings on the grounds that the proceedings infringed upon a state's constitutionally protected sovereign interests. Three individuals filed administrative complaints against Rhode Island's environmental agency alleging...

The court affirms in part and vacates in part a district court order requiring the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to disclose to Maine certain documents relating to efforts to list Atlantic salmon in eight rivers in Maine as endangered. Although the district court allowed DOI to withhold many...

The court vacates a district court order granting a permanent injunction restraining environmental groups and the government from interfering with the construction or operation of a multi-site hog production facility on tribal trust land. In 1998, a Native American tribe and a company agreed to nego...