The Supreme Court of South Dakota upheld the state's approval of a permit to construct a coal-fired energy conversion facility. Certain nonprofit environmental organizations asserted that the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the plant would contribute to global warming, thereby posing a threat of...

A California appellate court held that the California Coastal Act of 1976 does not grant the California Coastal Commission the power to declare property an "environmentally sensitive habitat area" during the administrative appeal from a local government's grant of a coastal development permit. The C...

A California appellate court rejected a petition to invalidate a regional district's annexation of 144,000 acres of coastland. Although the public notice for a protest hearing failed to include a statement of reasons for the annexation, this was not prejudicial. Nor was any potential ambiguity in th...

The Tenth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of Colorado's Clean Indoor Air Act. The Act bans smoking in indoor areas, but it expressly exempts from this general prohibition "airport smoking concessions" such as airport restaurants and bars. A coalition of tavern and bar owners filed suit challeng...

A California appellate court upheld the California Coastal Commission's denial of a coastal development permit to build a home. The commission determined that the property contains an "environmentally sensitive habitat area" that had not been designated in the Los Angeles County land use plan and th...

A California appellate court reversed the denial of a petition challenging a city's approval of an application to demolish a building to make way for a larger parking lot. The city concluded that the building was not an historic resource and that the project was exempt from the California Environmen...

A California appellate court held that a trial court improperly denied a group's motion to preliminarily enjoin a school district from demolishing 49 housing units to make way for a new school under the power of eminent domain. The group argued that the environmental impact report for the project vi...

The Ninth Circuit upheld an injunction enjoining the California Air Resources Board from enforcing state regulations that limit emissions from the auxiliary diesel engines of ocean-going vessels within 24 miles of California's coast. Clean Air Act (CAA) §209(e)(2)(A) requires California to obta...

A Louisiana appellate court affirmed in part a lower court decision in favor of residents who brought a class action suit against New Orleans for converting a municipal landfill into a residential area in the Ninth Ward. The city was negligent in its actions and inactions that resulted in the conver...

A California appellate court affirmed a lower court judgment ordering a city to prepare an environmental impact report for a 120-unit senior housing facility, a 6,500 square-foot community senior center, and a four-acre public park. There is substantial evidence that the project's increase in popula...