The court affirms a district court's dismissal, under the Federal Tort Claims Act's (FTCA's) independent contractor and discretionary function exceptions, of a lawsuit against the federal government for groundwater contamination at a private farm, caused by trichloroethylene (TCE) disposal at an Air...

The court holds that two insurance companies have no duty to defend or indemnify a Delaware county for future costs resulting from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) administrative proceedings under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) ad...

The court affirms a district court decision that an insurance policy's pollution exclusion and owner exclusion clauses do not bar the policy's coverage of the insureds' costs of complying with a government order to clean up contaminated waste from painting operations that they buried in barrels or p...

The court holds that a challenge by the state of Nebraska to the siting of a regional low-level radioactive waste storage facility in Boyd County, Nebraska, is barred by a regional compact's time limits on suits and the doctrines of estoppel and laches. Ruling on a motion for summary judgment by the...

The court holds that the insurers of a local sewage authority are not required to defend the authority against claims brought by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under §122 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) in connection with the aut...

The court holds that Nevada's state engineer improperly denied the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) applications for state water appropriation permits that would allow livestock to be watered on public lands in Douglas County, Nevada. The state regulation at issue allows the state engineer to iss...

The court upholds the reversal of a trial court's grant of judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) in favor of a chemical manufacturer that was denied insurance coverage for soil, groundwater, and surface water pollution at one of its sites. Shortly after purchasing the site in 1964, the manufac...

The court holds that the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) may require applicants for land allotments under the Alaska Native Allotment Act (ANAA) to prove personal use and occupancy independent of immediate family members prior to withdrawal of the land from the public domain. The IBLA denied t...

The court holds that a Pennsylvania township and its supervisors did not violate a developer's substantive due process rights by conspiring to delay and obstruct the developer's construction of an industrial park. The developer claims that the township and its supervisors conspired to delay the coun...

The court grants environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin the U.S. Forest Service from implementing a salvage project in the Bitterroot National Forest until any administrative appeals have been resolved pursuant to the Appeals Reform Act. After the final environmental impact statement f...