A California appellate court held that the California Coastal Commission exceeded its jurisdiction when it approved amendments to a city's certified local coastal program at the request of state agencies and over the objection of the city. The proposed amendments would override the city's local land...

A district court held that residents may add four new defendants in their lawsuit against energy companies for alleged water contamination due to hydraulic fracturing operations near their homes. During the course of discovery, the residents learned that the proposed defendants participated in t...

A district court held that a company may go forward with its RCRA claim against the former owner, but not the current owner, of adjacent property for groundwater contamination. The complaint contains sufficient factual allegations supporting the company's claim that the former owner of the neigh...

A Washington appellate court held that the developer of 30 residential waterfront lots must seek a permit under the Shoreline Management Act of 1971 prior to building private docks to accompany the new homes. Because the docks would be designed for the private, noncommercial use of the owners of...

The Indiana Supreme Court held that an insurance company must provide coverage to a manufacturer for TCE contamination even though the policy contained an absolute pollution exclusion clause. The pollution exclusion clause excluded coverage for losses resulting from "pollutants," which the polic...

A district court ordered the California Department of Transportation to revise its EA for a proposal to widen a highway through a state park home to ancient redwoods as well as an abundance of wildlife, including the marbled murrelet and spotted owl. There are a number of discrepancies and omiss...

A district court remanded to EPA its determination that several provisions of Florida's "impaired water rule" are not new or revised water quality standards and, thus, not subject to approval by the Agency. An environmental group argued that EPA's decision was arbitrary and capricious. In order ...

A California appellate court held that a local board's environmental impact report (EIR) for the construction of a light rail line connecting downtown Los Angeles with Santa Monica complies with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). A coalition of homeowners' associations, community g...

A California appellate court upheld a county board's adoption of a zoning ordinance pertaining to lot line adjustments. The ordinance continued the county's existing administrative practice of allowing lot line adjustments impacting four or fewer parcels to readjust lots included in a prior applicat...

A district court held that a property owner is not entitled to attorney fees from the U.S. government in an underlying case in which the government was found liable under RCRA for trichloroethylene contamination at the site. The lower court held that the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force were liable as...