The Supreme Court of Colorado held that state law preempts a city's five-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and waste disposal within city limits. Although the Colorado Constitution recognizes the sovereignty of "home rule cities," allowing home rule cities to regulate matters of local concern,...

The Supreme Court of Colorado held that state law preempts a city's ban on hydraulic fracturing and waste disposal within city limits. The Colorado Constitution recognizes the sovereignty of "home rule cities," meaning that in matters of local concern, a home-rule ordinance supersedes a conflicting ...

The Supreme Court of Texas held that the Texas Clean Air Act and the Act’s enforcement mechanisms in the Texas Water Code preempt a Houston air-quality ordinance. The Houston ordinance’s enforcement provisions are inconsistent with the statutory enforcement requirements. The ordinance allows cri...

A California appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part a trial court's summary adjudication in favor of the property owners in their dispute with a citizen's group over the use of a road, parking area, and the inland dry sand of a popular beach. There is no disagreement that the defendan...

A district court granted Missouri's remand request to litigate in state court its lawsuit against the owner and operator of a landfill in connection with an uncontrolled, underground trash fire at the site. The state alleged various state law violations, along with claims for nuisance, cost recovery...

A Florida appellate court reversed and remanded the state siting board's decision to permit a power company to construct and operate two new nuclear generating units and to install miles of new transmission lines in and near the East Everglades. The board failed to consider local regulations, as req...

The Supreme Court of Montana upheld a lower court decision dismissing a smelting company's state-law claims against an oil refinery in connection with costs incurred remediating a former lead smelting site in East Helena, Montana. The refinery sold the site to the smelting company in 1972. Under the...

A district court dismissed a lawsuit brought by individual miners and various mining groups, associations, and businesses challenging an Oregon law that temporarily bans instream motorized mining to protect water quality and fish habitat. The law, with some exceptions, temporarily prohibits instream...

A Montana court vacated and remanded a water discharge permit that the state's environmental agency issued to a coal mine in southeastern Montana. The agency's decisions are arbitrary and not supported by the law, and when viewed in its totality, the record demonstrates clear errors of judgment with...

The D.C. Circuit upheld the U.S. Forest Service's decision to exclude approximately 8,300 acres of federal land that fall within recreational ski boundaries from the Colorado roadless rule. The Service issued the rule in 2012, adopting state-specific standards for the designation and management of t...