A court affirms a trial court ruling that a nonprofit organization failed to demonstrate that the manufacturers and distributors of plumbing parts discharged lead into a source of California drinking water in violation of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, commonly known as Propositi...

The court reverses and remands a lower court decision that a city's dewatering activities did not constitute a taking of homeowners' property. The court previously certified the issue to the Ohio Supreme Court, and that court held that Ohio homeowners have a property interest in the groundwater unde...

A court reverses a lower court decision denying animal activists' motion to strike state employees' workplace violence protective orders under the state's anti-SLAPP statute. Following a nighttime protest at one of the employees' homes, a trial court issued temporary restraining orders against the a...

The court holds that the employee of a state environmental agency is not shielded from liability under Missouri's absolute privilege doctrine in a case alleging tortious interference with a contract. The operator of a surface coal mining and reclamation project filed suit against the state employee ...

A court vacates an order overruling a county board's demurrer in an environmental group's action seeking to compel the board to conduct an environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) before placing a sales tax measure on a ballot or to prevent implementation of the mea...

The court approves a decree quieting title to certain marine submerged lands in Southeast Alaska. Under the decree, the United States has title to the submerged lands underlying the pockets and enclaves of water that are more than three geographical miles from every point on the coastline of the mai...

The court affirms the grant of summary judgment in favor of the United States in property owners' Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) action for damages to their homes in Puerto Rico resulting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (the Corps') disposal of dredged material on a nearby beach. The owners' ...

A court reverses a lower court decision dismissing a landowner's regulatory takings claims against a county as unripe. The county's determination that the landowner could only build one residence on his property amounts to a final decision, and the permissible use of the property is known to a reaso...

The court holds that a state statute concerning the shooting of small game from a public right-of-way does not constitute a compensable taking under the U.S. or South Dakota Constitutions. Lacking more than intermittent and temporary invasions, or the placement of a fixed structure upon the land by ...

A court partially reverses a lower court judgment granting cities' petition for writ of mandate against state and regional water boards for adopting a total maximum daily load (TMDL) that established a numeric target of zero trash discharge from municipal storm drains into the Los Angeles River. The...