The court holds that a consent judgment under which the United States acquired title to Horn Island in the Gulf of Mexico is null and void. Plaintiff-appellants had contracted to sell a portion of the island to the United States, which sought it as part of a proposed national park. The United States...

The court holds that, as applied to industrial truck manufacturers and distributors, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) hazard communication standard (HCS) preempt enforcement of the occupational warning requirements unde...

The Court affirms a Third Circuit decision that a class-action certification seeking settlement of current and future asbestos-related claims failed to satisfy the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 23. The Court first notes that the Third Circuit should have acknowledged that settlement is relevant to...

The court holds that a state's solid waste disposal program that requires the identification of additional capacity for out-of-state waste before a plan is approved does not violate the U.S. Commerce Clause. The court first holds that the program does not facially discriminate against interstate com...

The court holds that an interdepartmental memorandum of agreement that provides for a 20-day public comment period for environmental assessments prepared for timber salvage sales in the Hoosiers National Forest is valid under the Rescissions Act. The court holds that the Rescissions Act authorizes t...

The court holds that a U.S. Forest Service proposal for a logging project and road extension in the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), but not the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). The court first holds that neither the district cour...

The court holds that a ranch owner with inholdings within the Apache National Forest and the Gila River Forest Reserve in New Mexico does not have a preexisting patent right or a common-law easement allowing access to the inholdings. The court first holds that the government's claims regarding the r...

The court holds that future Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) contribution actions by settling private defendants against private nonsettlors at a New York Superfund site will be governed by the Uniform Comparative Fault Act (UCFA) and CERCLA §113(f)(1),...

The court upholds the Secretary of the Interior's approval of increased dock fees charged by a private marina operator at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The court first holds that, in approving the operator's rate increase requests, the Secretary did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in v...

The court holds that the Quiet Title Act does not require the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) to refer the determination of chain of title mining claims to the federal district court. Appellants claimed that the IBLA's failure to refer the claims violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)...