On rehearing en banc, the court holds that the Nuclear Regulaory Commission (NRC) is not required to hold a hearing on the poential effects of an earthquake on emergency response to a simultaneous but independently caused radiological accident at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, and that a pet...

In a class action spanning 65 trial days, the court holds that Velsicol Chemical Corporation (Velsicol) is liable to plaintiffs, based on the doctrines of strict liability, common law negligence, trespass, and nuisance. Plaintiffs are persons who owned or occupied property within a three-mile radius...

The court holds that the district court did not abuse its discretion by granting Union Carbide's motion to dismiss 145 consolidated personal injury actions arising out of the release of methyl isocyanate gas in December 1984 from Union Carbide's Bhopal plant on the grounds of forum non conveniens. S...

The court holds that the corporate owners of a salt mining operation that has polluted an aquifer used for domestic water supply and irrigation are not entitled to reduction of a $10 million punitive damage award, since defendants have continued to pollute and have not demonstrated that the pollutio...

Affirming the district court, the Ninth Circuit rules that the Fishery Conservation and Management Act (FCMA) authorizes warrantless searches and seizures of foreign fishing vessels within the United States' 200-mile fishery conservation zone (FCZ) and that, as implemented, this authority does not v...

The court holds that the Corps of Engineers' decision to dump dredged material from the Port of Oakland into Half Moon Bay does not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The court holds that the district court did not abuse its discretion in considering the probability of success on ...

The court holds that a congressional continuing resolution limiting judicial review of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) timber management plans (TMPs) precludes a challenge to timber sales in old-growth timber stands in Oregon that provide habitat for the northern spotted owl. The resolution allows t...

The court holds that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) complied with the state Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) in issuing regulations requiring gasoline service stations to install Stage II vapor recovery systems. Th...

The court holds that plaintiffs in a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen suit have adequately raised the issue of ongoing violations to support the court's jurisdiction, and that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) involvement in a remedial investigation/feasibility study (...

The court rules that plaintiffs in a tort action for damages arising out of exposure to hazardous substances may recover medical surveillance costs in the absence of actual physical injury, and holds that plaintiff landowners whose wells were contaminated may obtain damages for emotional distress be...