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Quinault Indian Nation v. Grays Harbor County

The court reverses a district court decision holding that a Washington county tax imposed against a Native American tribe after it transferred forest land to the United States to hold in trust for the tribe was a permissible taxation of land under the Indian General Allotment Act of 1887. Under Wash...

BP Exploration & Oil Co. v. Maintenance Servs., Inc.

The court affirms a district court judgment finding an Ohio oil tank maintenance company liable for the damages from a fuel leak that occurred after it negligently cut holes in an oil company's storage tank, but the oil company's failure to test the tank prior to filling rendered it contributorily n...

West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Inc. v. Norton

The court affirms in part and vacates in part a district court's award of attorney fees to environmental groups that sought to rescind new mining permits issued to a company that owned a mine in violation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The U.S. Department of the Interior'...

Laub v. EPA

The court holds that farmers' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) action challenging a proposed federal and state plan for managing the California San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Bay-Delta) water resources is ripe for judicial review before any site-specific action is taken. The...

Kennedy Bldg. Assocs. v. Viacom, Inc.

The Eighth Circuit reversed a lower court's strict liability judgment and accompanying punitive damages award against a company in connection with the environmental contamination of a site it once owned. Minnesota's strict liability rule for actions brought by subsequent property owners requires an ...

Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians v. Nielson

The Tenth Circuit affirmed a district court decision that Utah's statutes regulating the storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel are preempted by federal law. Contrary to the state's arguments, the plaintiffs who challenge the statutes—a consortium of utility companies and a Native Americ...

Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Ctr. v. Bureau of Land Management

The Ninth Circuit held that the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) environmental assessments (EAs) for two timbers sales in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The EAs do not sufficiently identify or discuss the incremental impact that can be expec...

Smith v. Mendon, Town of

New York's highest court holds that a municipality does not commit an unconstitutional taking when it conditions site plan approval on landowners' acceptance of a development restriction consistent with the municipality's preexisting conservation policy. The restriction would not appreciably diminis...

Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc. v. Irvine, City of

A California appellate court affirmed a trial court decision dismissing a petition challenging a city's issuance of a negative environmental declaration under the California Environmental Quality Act and grant of a conditional use permit to a developer to construct an apartment building in an indust...

St. Charles Mfg. Ltd. Partnership v. Whirlpool Corp.

The Seventh Circuit held that the adequacy of a "no further remediation" letter issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is an issue for the state agency to decide. Under a contract between the former owner and subsequent owner of land, the former owner would be released from all claim...