The court holds that Washington oil spill prevention laws are not preempted by federal statute, do not violate the Commerce Clause or Foreign Affairs Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and are not improper extraterritorial restrictions. The court first holds that the language, structure, and legislati...

The court rescinds a contract under which a metal refining company sold a contaminated site in Queens, New York, to the U.S. Postal Service. Applying New York law, the court first holds that breach of contract can be grounds for rescission. The company breached its contract with the Postal Service b...

The court holds that an electric utility company lacks standing under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to challenge a U.S. Forest Service environmental impact statement approving a competing company's construction of a crude oil pipeline. The court first holds that the evidence clearly s...

The court denies a private-property owner injunctive relief on its claim that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and EPA employees violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when an EPA emergency response team entered onto the property without a warrant and removed water and ...

The court upholds Nevada county ordinances requiring landowners either to subscribe to a particular garbage collection service or to haul their garbage to an approved disposal site every seven days. The ordinances also required all landowners that cannot prove that they properly disposed of their ow...

The court holds that property owners' negligence, nuisance, and trespass claims against a battery crushing and lead processing plant in their neighborhood are time barred. The court first holds that their negligence claim is barred by Pennsylvania's statute of limitations, because their praecipe for...

The court reverses a district court opinion that the stare decisis effect of a decision by a federal district court in Washington State bars appellants' current challenge to the president's 1994 forest plan. The court holds that stare decisis does not require a district court in one circuit to follo...

The Court holds that a landowner's takings claim against a regional planning agency is ripe for adjudication. The agency determined that the landowner may not develop her property but is entitled to transferable development rights (TDRs). The Court first notes that its discussion is confined to whet...

The court holds that the owner of a salt mine is not liable to the owners of the surface estate for damage that the mine suffered during a collapse and innundation, but may be liable for damages caused by subsidence of the surface estate. The court previously held that the surface owners had a rever...

The court holds that a district court erroneously dismissed a nondiverse defendant as fraudulently joined in an action based on oil companies' alleged contamination of Mississippi property with naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). The court first holds that a party removing an action to ...