The Third Circuit upheld a district court decision that a state wildlife and game commission's refusal to exempt a Native American, who owns black bears for religious purposes, from a permit fee violates the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause. The permitting scheme is subject to strict scrutiny....

A California appellate court held that the state coastal commission's development of a local coastal program for Malibu, requiring it to process coastal development permits, is constitutional. The amendment to the California Coastal Act that required the commission to prepare a local coastal plan fo...

The Fifth Circuit upheld a district court decision holding that an insurer had a duty to defend an oil company in an underlying suit in which the company was alleged to have polluted a nearby ranch. The insurance contract contained a pollution exclusion clause that would, by itself, bar coverage. Th...

The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a company's complaint alleging that Arizona state officials' policy against using materials mined from Woodruff Butte in state construction projects violates the company's constitutional rights. The Establishment Clause does not bar the government from prote...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of an environmental group's suit alleging that a power company was operating its electric-generating plant in violation of the CAA. The power company received a construction permit from EPA in 1977. In 1978, EPA incorporated best available cont...

The Federal Circuit held that a mining company did not suffer a taking when the OSM designated lands subject to the company's surface mining leases as unsuitable for mining pursuant to SMCRA. The company did not suffer a categorical taking because the company did not lose all economically viable use...

The Federal Circuit held that the BLM's delay in approving a company's application for permits to drill oil and gas wells did not constitute a temporary regulatory taking. The delay was not extraordinary since it allowed the government to evaluate whether the proposed wells would cause the release o...

The Sixth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a company's takings claim against Kentucky for denying a permit to mine. The company originally filed suit in state court, where it ultimately was dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. It then filed suit in federal court. The Eleventh Ame...

A federal claims court, on remand, adjusted the damages awarded to the owners of low-income housing units that suffered a temporary regulatory takings in connection with the passage of the Emergency Low-Income Housing Preservation Act of 1987 and the Low-Income Housing Preservation and Resident Home...

The Sixth Circuit held that individuals may go forward with their class action suit against a cement manufacturing plant for current and future personal and real property damages, diminution in property value, and various detrimental health effects caused by the emission of toxic pollutants. The Jud...