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United States v. Las Cruces, City of

The court vacates a district court decision dismissing the United States' suit to quiet title to water rights in a portion of the Rio Grande River. The dispute centers around the Rio Grande Reclamation Project, and after several attempts to dismiss water adjudications in state court, the United Stat...

Joshua Hill, Inc. v. Whitemarsh Township Auth.

The court reverses a district court decision that a property owner could not recover response costs under the Pennsylvania Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act (HSCA) because he failed to establish a release or threat of release of hazardous substances. A town previously used the property as a landfill, and ...

United States v. Shell Oil Co.

The court affirms in part and reverses in part a district court decision that found the U.S. government and oil companies liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for dumping acid sludge from the production of aviation gas during World War II an...

National Audubon Soc'y v. Davis

The court holds that California's Proposition 4, which bans the use of certain traps and poisons to capture or kill wildlife in the state, is preempted by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Wildlife Refuge Systems Improvement Act (NWRSIA). An environmental group brought suit against t...

Quinault Indian Nation v. Grays Harbor County

The court reverses a district court decision holding that a Washington county tax imposed against a Native American tribe after it transferred forest land to the United States to hold in trust for the tribe was a permissible taxation of land under the Indian General Allotment Act of 1887. Under Wash...

BP Exploration & Oil Co. v. Maintenance Servs., Inc.

The court affirms a district court judgment finding an Ohio oil tank maintenance company liable for the damages from a fuel leak that occurred after it negligently cut holes in an oil company's storage tank, but the oil company's failure to test the tank prior to filling rendered it contributorily n...

Kottschade v. Rochester, City of

The court affirms a district court dismissal of a developer's taking claim against a city as unripe due to the developer's failure to exhaust his state court remedies. The developer received a permit to build a townhouse project, but the permit was subject to nine conditions. The developer claimed t...

Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA

The court denies an electric utility association's petition to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) interpretation of its state and federal operating permit program regulations. According to EPA, the regulations allow permit-issuing authorities to enhance the conditions included...

Laub v. EPA

The court holds that farmers' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) action challenging a proposed federal and state plan for managing the California San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Bay-Delta) water resources is ripe for judicial review before any site-specific action is taken. The...

Kennedy Bldg. Assocs. v. Viacom, Inc.

The Eighth Circuit reversed a lower court's strict liability judgment and accompanying punitive damages award against a company in connection with the environmental contamination of a site it once owned. Minnesota's strict liability rule for actions brought by subsequent property owners requires an ...