Banning Ranch Conservancy v. Newport Beach, City of
A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision denying a conservation group's petition seeking to vacate a city's certification of an environmental impact report (EIR) for the development of a park. The group argued that the EIR wrongly defined the project to exclude pending residentia...
Central Basin Municipal Water District v. Water Replenishment District of Southern California
A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision denying a municipal water district's petition challenging a water replenishment district's "water emergency" declaration for California's Central Basin. The water district argued that the replenishment district failed to comply with the Ca...
Central Coast Forest Ass'n v. California Fish & Game Commission
A California appellate court reversed a lower court decision granting lumber companies' petition to delist coho salmon from the California list of endangered species. The companies' petition sought to show that there was no basis for the California Fish & Game Commission's 1995 finding that coho...
Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon"
A district court dismissed claims against the manufacturer of the chemical dispersant used in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Cleanup responders and coastal residents filed suit against the manufacturer, claiming they suffered a variety of exposure-related injuries...
Cleveland National Forest Foundation v. San Diego Ass'n of Governments
A California court held that the environmental impact report (EIR) San Diego prepared for its regional transport plan and accompanying sustainable communities strategy violates the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it failed to adequately address greenhouse gas emissions. The EIR i...
Hillside Environmental Loss Prevention, Inc. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
The Tenth Circuit upheld a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredge and fill permit allowing a railroad company to build a terminal on land outside Kansas City, Kansas, that contains streams and wetlands. Environmental groups argued the Corps inadequately considered alternatives to the selected site unde...
Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates, LLC v. Los Angeles
The California Supreme Court held that all subdivisions, including the conversion of a mobile home park from tenant occupancy to resident ownership, are "developments" for purposes of the California Coastal Act. Nor does the Subdivision Map Act exempt such conversions from the need to comply with ot...
Surfrider Foundation v. California Regional Water Quality Control Board
A California appellate court upheld a regional water board's approval of a NPDES permit to build a desalination facility on the coast of Carlsbad, California. An environmental group argued that the board improperly required the facility to restore wetlands in lieu of implementing site, design and te...
Decision on the Approval for Submittal of a 401 Water Quality Certification to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the Draft 2013 Vessel General Permit and the Draft 2013 Small Vessel General Permit
A Minnesota appellate court held that the state environmental agency did not err in certifying under CWA §401 EPA's proposed NPDES vessel general permit, which allows shipping vessels in Lake Superior to discharge ballast water in state waters. Nonprofit groups argued that the agency applied an inc...