The Colorado Supreme Court held that the state Mined Land Reclamation Act impliedly preempts a county's ban on the use of toxic or acidic chemicals, such as cyanide, for mineral processing in vat or heap leach operations for all zoning districts in the county. The county enacted the ordinance to pro...

A California appellate court reversed a lower court's summary judgment that a county's approval of a congregate care construction project did not violate the California Environmental Quality Act or its general land use plan. The county enacted a program that requires developers in a defined geograph...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Tariff Act's antidumping duties on foreign merchandise sold in the United States at less than its fair value apply to imports of low enriched uranium obtained by domestic utilities in return for cash and unenriched uranium delivered to a foreign enricher. Section...

A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision denying a water company's petition challenging a water district's use of a statutory rate-setting exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act to raise groundwater-charge rates for fiscal year 2006-2007. Although the district's ...

A district court granted in part and denied in part cross-motions for summary judgment in a company's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit seeking to compel the production of two Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documents about water contamination models the Agency is using at a hazardous was...

A California appellate court held that a water district violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when it approved an agreement concerning the operation of a landfill and recycling center. The water district argued that its approval and execution of the agreement did not constitute ap...

A district court dismissed a family's personal injury claims against the U.S. Army for exposing them to carbon tetrachloride while they resided on a former Army base. The discretionary function exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act deprives the court of subject matter jurisdiction over their clai...

The Federal Circuit denied the U.S. government's petition to rehear a case requiring the federal government to pay a water district for diverting water to protect endangered steelhead trout. A concurring judge explained that this case, as it was presented on appeal, is one in which a physical, not a...

The Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court decision ruling that homeowners were entitled to the full amount of their insurance policy for severe flood damage sustained during Hurricane Katrina. The homeowners filed suit after they were unsatisfied with the original amount they were paid under their in...

The Sixth Circuit upheld individuals' conviction for impeding a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigation at a water treatment facility in Mount Pleasant, Tennessee. The district court did not abuse its discretion by excluding evidence that a witness had been treated for drug use in 1992. N...