The court affirms a district court decision that an insurance policy's pollution exclusion and owner exclusion clauses do not bar the policy's coverage of the insureds' costs of complying with a government order to clean up contaminated waste from painting operations that they buried in barrels or p...

The court holds that a challenge by the state of Nebraska to the siting of a regional low-level radioactive waste storage facility in Boyd County, Nebraska, is barred by a regional compact's time limits on suits and the doctrines of estoppel and laches. Ruling on a motion for summary judgment by the...

The court holds that the insurers of a local sewage authority are not required to defend the authority against claims brought by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under §122 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) in connection with the aut...

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 holds that two Michigan state legislators lack standing to challenge the Secretary of the Interior's approval of gaming compacts between the state of Michigan and four Native American tribes. The legislators—one a member of the state house, and the other a member of the state senate—cl...

The court affirms the dismissal of property owners' claim that a consulting firm negligently announced that land neighboring the owner's property was suitable as a potential landfill site even though the land was farmland and, thus, could not be used for a landfill. The landowners claimed that this ...

The court holds that the Emergency Low-Income Housing Preservation Act's (ELIHPA's) and the Low-Income Housing Preservation and Resident Homeownership Act's (LIHPRHA's) mortgage prepayment restrictions did not effect a per se taking of residential apartment building owners' property. The Acts prohib...

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 reverses a district court's decision dismissing building owners' U.S. Commerce Clause claims against a waste authority for lack of standing. The building owners maintained that the authority's implementation of a waste generation fee structure effectively forced them to use the local facil...

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...