The court upholds the U.S. Forest Service's decision to grant a cellular phone company a special use permit for a telecommunications facility on Dead Indian Mountain in the Fremont National Forest, Oregon. The court first holds that the Forest Service's decision to grant the permit was not arbitrary...

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 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 a district court has subject matter jurisdiction to determine whether a city, in light of its post-settlement actions, is estopped from refusing to approve a waste management company's construction of buildings on the south side of landfill property. A settlement agreement betwe...

The court holds that a U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) rule concerning natural resource damage (NRD) assessments under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) does not violate the Administrative Procedure Act or CERCLA. The rule, challenged by a manuf...

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 affirms that the denial of a Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) permit did not breach a contract between a developer and the government of the Virgin Islands allowing for the development of an island off the coast of St. Thomas. The court first holds that the agreement unambiguously grants...