A district court held that the possibility that a settlement might not be collected is neither extraordinary nor unexpected and is therefore insufficient to reopen its final award of damages in an environmental contamination case. The court awarded a manufacturing company $40,708.00 for contribution...

A California appellate court affirmed the dismissal of environmental groups' lawsuit against the owners and operators of wind turbine electric generators for killing and injuring raptors and other birds in violation of the public trust doctrine. Wildlife, including birds, is considered to be a publi...

A California appellate court upheld a land use commission's decision to hold a hearing on a developer's application to construct a 43-unit housing project on coastal property. The commission originally granted the developer a permit, but then a resident filed an appeal challenging the validity of th...

The Federal Circuit affirmed in part and remanded in part a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the United States in a water district's breach of contract and takings suit against the government in connection with a water supply project in Ventura County, California. In August 1997, ...

A district court held that the Clean Air Act (CAA) does not preempt a local air district rule that requires developers to reduce nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions from their projects or to pay a fee to offset such emissions. The rule is not a standard subject to CAA §209. It neith...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court's entry of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. government dismissing a property owner's claim that he is entitled to an easement to access his property located within Glacier National Park. The National Park Service (NPS) allowed inholders some degree of mo...

The Eighth Circuit denied a petition for review of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order authorizing the reconstruction of the Taum Sauk Pumped Storage Project, a hydroelectric generating plant in the Missouri Ozarks. In 2005, the upper reservoir of the project collapsed, and the opera...

The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the state's approval of a public utility's petition to construct an integrated gasification combined-cycle electric power plant. A statutory requirement that the state value property that is "used and useful" in determining rate base of a public utility does not c...

A California appellate court held that a county violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the county's general plan, and the state water code when it issued a conditional use permit allowing a proposed mining project on preserved agricultural land. The environmental impact report (EI...

A California appellate court held that an environmental group challenging proposed revisions to a solid waste facility permit for a local landfill is entitled to an administrative hearing before the county. The county denied the group's hearing request, reasoning that only operators, not third parti...