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...

The court holds that a non-cumulation clause in a manufacturer's insurance policy applied to its claims resulting from environmental property damage. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and potentially responsible parties at a waste site sued the manufacturer for damages related to the transpor...

The court holds that an Arizona district court erred in determining that it lacked jurisdiction to hear a quiet title action concerning land along the Colorado River and in fixing title to the land on the basis of river movements that occurred prior to 1905 when the United States patented the disput...

The court holds that a North Carolina county did not violate a company's due process or equal protection rights by not issuing the company a building permit for a proposed asphalt plant, by enacting a one-year moratorium on the building of asphalt plants, and by subsequently enacting a polluting ind...

The court holds that the sudden and accidental exception to the pollution exclusion clause contained in a manufacturing company's comprehensive general liability policies bars coverage for trichloroethylene contamination at its facilities. The company argued that the sudden and accidental exception ...

The court holds that garbage mixed with recyclables is not "property" and, thus, Oregon State county and city trash hauling regulations are not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorizing Act (FAAAA). The lower court issued a permanent injunction preventing the county and city from ...