A court upholds a city zoning ordinance prohibiting the development of a "big box" retail store within its jurisdiction. The city made a legitimate policy choice when it decided to organize development using neighborhood shopping centers dispersed throughout the city, the ordinance was reasonably re...

The court upholds a California state mining board regulation that requires the Director of the Department of Conservation to concur in any lead agency determination that a mine operator has fulfilled the terms of his reclamation plan and that the financial assurance instruments securing his obligati...

The court upholds the dismissal of state misdemeanor trespass and littering claims against a federal officer and contractor involved in the federal reintroduction of wolves in Wyoming. The officer and contractor were charged with the misdemeanors after they unknowingly entered private property in th...

A court holds that an environmental group may proceed with its petition for writ of mandate in which it seeks to overturn the state forestry department's approval of three timber harvesting plans. The forestry department failed to follow the state's forest practice rules for reviewing the plans' cho...

The court reverses a lower court summary judgment decision upholding the state department of toxic substance control's determination that virtually all corporations with 50 or more employees in the state must pay a hazardous materials charge. This determination amounts to a regulation under the stat...

A court grants in part and denies in part motions to dismiss land purchasers' Comprehensive, Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), negligence, fraud, and state-law claims against an environmental consulting firm and the prior owners. The prior owners sold the land without...

A court holds that a county did not effect a physical or regulatory taking when it imposed conditions on a landowner's permit to activate a well on its property. The conditional use permit limited the landowner from extracting no more than 12,000 acre/feet per year of water from the aquifer underlyi...

The court holds that a developer was not denied due process in connection with a local land use commission's hearing on his application for a coastal development permit. The developer claimed that telephone conversations with staff led him to believe that he did not need to appear at the hearing. Bu...

The court upholds a lower court decision that the United States has no obligation to reimburse a Florida county for the costs it incurred treating soil and groundwater contamination at the Miami International Air Depot. From 1943 to 1966, the U.S. government maintained and repaired U.S. Air Force ai...

The court upholds the dismissal of local water agencies' claims that the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) was operating the Central Valley Project (CVP) in a manner that would at some point in the future violate the Vernalis salinity standard, a state standard with which the Bureau must comply in its ...