The Supreme Court of California invalidated a local agency's countywide property assessment intended to fund a program to acquire, improve, and maintain open space lands. The court first ruled that courts should exercise their independent judgment in reviewing whether assessments that local agencies...

A California appellate court affirmed a trial court's writ of mandate directing the state's pesticide agency to work jointly and mutually with the state health department while formulating regulations relating to the safety of persons working with or around methyl bromide. Section 12981 of the Calif...

The Supreme Court of California overturned the state forestry agency's approval of a master plan for the intensive logging of old growth redwoods and other trees on a lumber company's property in Humboldt County as well as the agency's issuance of an incidental take permit, but otherwise affirmed a ...

The First Circuit denied a petition for review of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) order permitting the construction of a new taxiway at Boston's Logan International Airport. The new taxiway is intended to ease congestion at the airport, thereby reducing the amount of time planes spend idling...

A district court issued a preliminary injunction limiting the amount of cattle grazing allowed on conservation reserve program (CRP) lands. In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began a critical feed use haying and grazing program on CRP lands to deal with rising feed prices. But in so d...

A California appellate court upheld the dismissal of a continuing nuisance claim brought by the owners of contaminated property against the former owners for damages stemming from a prospective lender's refusal to refinance the property. Specifically, the owners sought to recover interest rate diffe...

A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision dismissing property owners' suit seeking damages against a city for inverse condemnation, nuisance, and trespass stemming from erosion caused by a faulty storm drain. The trial court concluded the city could not be held liable for erosion ...

A district court denied motions to dismiss a landowner's tort and state-law claims against the owner of a gasoline station for damages stemming from methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) contamination of its drinking water wells. The owner has suffered a cognizable injury. A reasonable jury could find ...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by classifying certain units of a proposed timber sale as roaded. Because the Forest Service considers the challenged units as roaded, the studies and research that formed the basis for the envi...

The court affirms a district court's orders denying environmental groups' motions to enjoin timber sales as violative of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (WSRA) and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The court first holds that the district court properly denied the environmental groups' motions to ...