A district court granted an environmental group's motion to preliminarily enjoin the logging of 11 timber sales and to halt any further logging activities in known occupied marbled murrelet sites in Oregon's Tillamook, Clatsop, and Elliot state forests. Defendants argued that the case was moot becau...
A Minnesota appellate court held that the state environmental agency did not err in certifying under CWA §401 EPA's proposed NPDES vessel general permit, which allows shipping vessels in Lake Superior to discharge ballast water in state waters. Nonprofit groups argued that the agency applied an inc...
A district court held that an insurance company need not indemnify its insured for certain repair and replacement costs it incurred cleaning up the release of contaminants from an underground gasoline storage tank. A clear reading of the plain language of the policy indicates the company was not req...
A California appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision approving an agreement between landowners, the Santa Maria Valley Water Conservation District, and local cities and water companies in a water rights dispute over the groundwater contained in the Santa Maria Va...
A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision denying a petition challenging a city's certification of a final environmental impact report (EIR) for a project to amend the city's "sphere of influence" to include an undeveloped portion of a university campus in order to allow the city ...
A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a citizen group's lawsuit seeking to vacate a city's approval of a "big box" retail store. The group alleged that the approval violated planning and zoning laws. Their suit, however, is time barred under Cal. Gov. Code §65009(c...
A district court denied the U.S. government's motion to empanel a sentencing jury to determine an oil company's gross pecuniary gain stemming from CAA and Migratory Bird Treaty Act violations. After the company was convicted under both statutes, the government recommended that the court impose a fin...