The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the Takings Clause does not distinguish between legislative and administrative land use permit conditions, in a lawsuit concerning a traffic impact fee as a condition of building a prefabricated home on a parcel of land. The landowner challenged the fee a...
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that Texas property owners should be permitted to pursue claims under the Takings Clause through an inverse-condemnation cause of action available under Texas law. Over 120 property owners argued that a Texas highway elevation and expansion project, which buil...
The Fifth Circuit vacated two orders EPA issued under TSCA that prohibited a plastics company from manufacturing or processing long-chain perfluoroalkyls (PFAS) during its fluorination process. In March 2022, EPA charged that the company's fluorination process was subject to a recently promulgated s...
A district court vacated three pesticide registrations issued by EPA in 2020 for "over-the-top" application of dicamba products manufactured by agrochemical companies. Environmental groups argued EPA violated FIFRA by unconditionally issuing "new use" registrations for over-the-top use of dicamba on...
The Eleventh Circuit vacated a district court's conclusion that FIFRA expressly preempted a state failure-to-warn claim brought by a Georgia landowner against the manufacturer of the weedkiller Roundup. The landowner argued the weedkiller caused his cancer and sued the manufacturer for failing to wa...
The Fourth Circuit reversed a district court order abstaining from ruling on constitutional claims brought by mineral interest owners challenging amendments to West Virginia's oil and gas conservation law. Plaintiffs argued the amendments, which for the first time authorized "unitization of interest...
The Eighth Circuit reversed a district court ruling in a challenge to Iowa's "ag gag" law that criminalizes undercover investigations at agricultural production facilities. Initially, the law prohibited the facilities from being accessed under false pretenses as well as prohibited false statements o...
The Ninth Circuit granted in part and denied in part environmental and public interest groups' petition to review EPA's amended pesticide registrations of streptomycin sulfate for use in combating citrus diseases. The groups argued EPA's determination that the registration would not cause "unreasona...
The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment for agricultural producers and businesses and a permanent injunction enjoining the California attorney general (AG) from enforcing Proposition 65's carcinogen warning requirement for the herbicide glyphosate. Plaintiffs ar...
The Eighth Circuit granted farming groups' petitions to review EPA's 2021 order banning agricultural use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos. The groups argued EPA's "rushed" decision to revoke all tolerances for chlorpyrifos, in response to a Ninth Circuit order directing the Agency to either revoke al...