The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision concerning challenges to a plan to redirect water from the Sacramento River Basin back to the Trinity River in order to revive its chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead trout populations. Contrary to the lower court'...
A California appellate court upheld the dismissal of an association's petition challenging the adequacy of a county's environmental impact report (EIR) prepared in connection with a proposed amendment to the local coastal plan (LCP) concerning greenhouse development. After the petition was filed, th...
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 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 Second Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that New York's purchase of the Niagara River islands from the Seneca Nation of Indians in 1815 did not violate the Non-Intercourse Act, which bars conveyances by Indians to non-Indians unless ratified by Congress. Although the transaction was not a...
A California appellate court upheld a city's decision not to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the construction of a senior citizens housing complex. A neighborhood group argued that the project would have a significant adverse aes...
The Tenth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a timber company's claim challenging the U.S. Forest Service's Historical Preservation Plan (HPP) for the Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark and Vicinity in the Bighorn National Forest. The Forest Service rejected the company's challenge to the HPP, w...
A California appellate court held that a dentist was not entitled to compensation for loss of goodwill as a result of a state university's condemnation of property in which the dentist held a leasehold interest. The constitutional right to just compensation does not include the loss of goodwill to a...
A California appellate court held that a trial court need not grant relief from a dismissal entered for failing to request a hearing on the merits in a CEQA case when the failure was caused by an attorney's inexcusable mistake or neglect. CEQA requires that a petitioner request a hearing within 90 d...
A California appellate court reversed a county's adoption of a mitigated negative declaration under CEQA in connection with the demolition of an old county jail. The group challenging the declaration demonstrated that the jail is an historic resource, that its demolition will have a significant envi...