Wetlands, Commerce and Jurisdiction: The Clean Water Act before the Supreme Court December 2005

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review of Baccarat Decision Dealing with Clean Water Act Jurisdiction May 2007

Nevada Supreme Court Adopts Colorado Style Anti-Speculation Doctrine. January 2006

Citizen Groups File Lawsuit Challenging Construction of Sunrise Powerlink Transmission Line Project in Imperial Valley and San Diego County April 2010

Fourth District Court Considers Appropriate Measure of Damages for Trespass Action December 2007

Urban Decay—The Uncertain Intersection of CEQA and Economic Analysis November 2005

Fifth District Court Finds EIRs Prepared for Two Projects Containing Wal-Mart as Anchor Tenant Inadequate under CEQA. February 2005

New York Supreme Court Holds that Disclaimer Bars Fraudulent Inducement/Concealment Claims September 2005

District Court Denies Injunctive Relief and Class Certification in Case Arising from Bhopal Disaster December 2005

District Court: New York District Court Dismisses State Environmental Claims Arising Out of Bhopal, India Disaster May 2003

Court of Appeals: Existing Public Sidewalks Must Be Made Accessible to Persons with Disabilities August 2002

News from the West May 2006

In the Absence of Injury to Other First Priority Water Rights Holders, a Party May Put Her Entire Allotment to Any Benefiicial Use April 2006

Statute of Limitations Period for Development Fee Challenges Will Not Apply Where City Failed to Follow Statutory Requirements April 2004

Building Permit and Plan Review Fees Are Not Fees Imposed on a ‘Development Project’ under the Mitigation Fee Act—But May Still Be Challenged as ‘Excessive’ February 2006

Challenge to Building and Permit Fees Must Be Brought through a Validation Action Pursuant to Government Code Sections 66014 and 66106 August/September 2003

Ninth Circuit Finds Low Income Housing Ordinance Is Not Preempted by a U.S. Department of Housing Regulation December 2009

Ninth Circuit Issues Memorandum of Decision— District Court Judge Responds Regarding Department of Interior Discretion to Determine Purposes for CVPIA Water Releases August/September 2003

Ball, Strike or Balk? Public Accountablity and Judicial Restraint in In re Bay-Delta Programmatic Environmental Impact Report Coordinated Proceedings November 2005

Superior Court: Court Issues Final Ruling for All Residual Contested Matters Pending in CALFED Coordinated Proceedings July 2003

Court Finds CalFed Programmatic Environmental Impact Report and Record of Decision Are Adequate for CEQA Purposes May 2003

Court of Appeals: Ninth Circuit Upholds San Francisco Transportation Agency’s Efforts to Increase Clean Air Act Ridership Goals May 2004

Michigan Appellate Court Finds Property Owners Time-Barred from Bringing Suit for Well-Documented Methane Contamination August 2005

Third Circuit Holds CERCLA 113(F)’s ‘Civil Action’ Requirement Is an Element of a Contribution Claim and Not a Question of Subject-Matter Jurisdiction July 2008

Third Circuit Holds that District Court Erred by Referring to a Federal Magistrate the Issue of Response Cost Allocation under CERCLA August 2005

Indiana Court Rules that City Is Not Liable for Flood Damage Caused by Sewer Systems June 2006

Supreme Court Finds that Sand and Gravel Are Not “Valuable Minerals” under the Pittman Underground Water Act of 1919. June 2004

Rhode Island Supreme Court Denies Relief to Employees Claiming "Whistleblower" Status for Reporting Hazardous Waste Violations August 2002

Court of Appeals of New York Holds that Absolute Pollution Exclusion in Insurance Policy Does Not Apply to Indoor Paint Fumes September 2003

Another New York Court Finds Indoor Fumes Are Not Subject to the Absolute Pollution Exclusion. August 2002

New Jersey Supreme Court Applies Multiple Insurance Policy Deductibles to Claim fo Ongoingn Pollution May 2004

News from the West April 2010

District Court Finds Gun Range, as Potential Source of Pollution, Has Liability Exposure under the Clean Water Act and RCRA February 2010

Second Circuit Denies Relief for those Allegedly Harmed By EPA’s Response to the ‘9/11’ Terrorist Attacks June 2008

Alaska Supreme Court Finds Statute Broadens the Scope of Arranger Liability for Hazardous Waste Disposal May 2005

Court of Appeals: Ninth Circuit Certifies Questions Regarding Scope of Arranger Liability under State Law for Alaska Supreme Court November 2002

Vermont Supreme Court Rejects Historic Rule that Water Access Defeats Easement by Necessity December 2006

News from the West March 2008

Ninth Circuit Upholds Army Corps Dredge and Fill Permit for Mining Project despite Large-Scale Wetlands Fill Resulting from Project February 2008

Court of Appeal Rules Oakland Airport's EIR Inadequate for Noise Impacts, Emissions, Health Risks and Endangered Species November 2001

Sixth District Court Upholds Attorney’s Fee Award in Action Brought Pursuant to California Public Records Act January 2009

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Post Hurricane Katrina Lawsuits Press On—District Court Dismisses Class Action July 2007

The Common Law Taketh Away: Revocation of Offers of Dedication under Biagini v. Beckham January 2009

Third District Holds Statutory Offer of Road Dedication May Be Revoked under Common Law to Preclude Acceptance by Public Use while Pending for Acceptance by Public Entity August 2008

County Ordinances Affecting Timber Harvesting Preempted by the Timberland Productivity Act and the Forest Practice Act April 2004

California Supreme Court to Review Two Decisions Regarding Inter-Agency Jurisdiction over Timber Harvesting Operations August 2004

Ninth Circuit Holds the United States Need Not Get Approval from Landowner before Implementing a Conservation Plan on Land Subject to a Permanent Conservation Easement November 2003

A Clash of Equities: Proposition 218 Squares Off against Tiered Water Pricing December 2007

The Changing Landscape of Proposition 218: Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency v. Verjil (Kelley) November 2006

California Supreme Court Extends the Reach of Proposition 218 October 2006

Water Agency’s Rates and Charges Are Not Subject to Proposition 218 Voter Approval or Initiative Process October 2004

Utah Supreme Court Adds New Twist to an Appropriator’s Obligation to Maintain a Reasonable Means of Diversion July 2010

Tenth Circuit finds BLM Complied with NEPA When It Refused to Study a Phased Development Proposal as a Project Alternative August 2010

Second District Court Finds Request for Relocation Assistance Benefits from Redevelopment Agency Untimely January 2008

Georgia Court of Appeals Explains Responsibilities of Dam Operators to Owners Surrounding Artificial Lake January 2006

Fourth District Finds Contracts for Sale of Property Void, where Contracts Were Entered Into Prior to Recording of Parcel Maps March 2007

Fourth District Court Affirms Rule that Petitioners Bear Cost of Preparing Record in Writ of Mandate Proceeding February 2006

Eleventh Circuit Finds CWA Citizen Suit Not Barred when Notice of Intent to Sue Is Given Prior to Commencement of Administrative Action January 2009

Second District Finds Deed Conveying Easement for Garage Did Not Violate Subdivision Map Act July 2007

California Coastal Commission Loses Key Ruling in Affordable Housing Enforcement Action May 2005

Seventh Circuit Denies Standing for Lake Michigan Pollution October 2009

Second District Court Upholds Amended Hollywood Redevelopment Plan—Substantial Evidence Supported the Finding of Blight May 2006

D.C. Circuit Orders EPA to Demonstrate Grounds for Leniency in Rule Establishing Snowmobile Emissions Standards August 2004

Lawsuits Seek Damages as a Result of 2004 Jones Tract Levee Break February 2006

District Court Denies Motion to Dismiss CERCLA Claims against ‘Owner and Operator’ where Party Was an Owner Only July 2009

New Mexico Court of Appeal Issues Writ of Certiorari in Challenge to New Mexico State Engineer’s Domestic Well Regulations December 2006

Colorado: Supreme Court Upholds Denial of Conditional Water Rights for Large Transmountain Water Diversion Project January 2001

District Court in Ohio Refuses to Apply CERCLA’s Bar to Pre-Enforcement Review of State Action for Environmental Contamination Damages July 2005

First District Court Interprets Local Agencies’ Authority to Grant Extensions of Tentative Maps under Govt. Code § 66452.6 after Maps Have Expired March 2005

Boeing Files Lawsuit to Challenge Limitations on Discharges from Its Santa Susana Field Laboratory March 2007

Ninth Circuit Holds that Plaintiff in a Contribution Suit under CERCLA Bears Burden of Proving Exclusion of Orphan Shares May 2004

Fourth District Court Determines New Blight Findings Warranted when City Substantially Changes Existing Redevelopment Plan May 2005

Eviction of Tenant from Converted Condominium Unit Is Lawful under City of Santa Monica’s Rent Control Law December 2005

Superior Court Sets Aside Final EIR for Refinery Expansion Project as Inadequate as to Project Description and GHG Mitigation Measures August 2009

First District Finds Property Owners’ Proposition 218 Challenge to Special Assessment Is a Validation Action that Must Comply with Special Procedures for Service of Process April 2007

District Court Upholds Removal of Suit under Energy Policy Act Despite Plaintiffs’ Claim that Pleading Reference to MTBE Was Merely a ‘Time- Marker’ March 2008

Supreme Court: United States Supreme Court Grants Certiorari to Consider whether Plowing Ranchland to Prepare It for Crops Requires a Section 404 Permit under the Federal Clean Water Act August 2002

United States Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case Regarding Application of Clean Water Act to Deep Plowing Activities. August 2002

Budget Cut Threats Have Not Drowned the Reach of the Clean Water Act October 2001

Fourth District Overturns Inverse Condemnation Award Finding Landowner Failed to Demonstrate a Direct and Special Injury from Local Land Use Planning Activities November 2006

New Jersey Appellate Division Holds State Regulation Governing Beach Road Access Invalid January 2009

Pennsylvania Court Allows Chesapeake Bay Challenge to Proceed July 2009

Pennsylvania DEP’s Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy Rejected by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania June 2009

Untimely Negligence Claim In Groundwater Litigation by Municipality against Hydrogeologist Is Allowed Based upon Discovery Rule October 2006

First Circuit Holds Owned-Property Exclusion Does Not Prohibit Recovery under Insurance Policy for Remediation where Contamination Is Migrating Off-Site August 2008

New Mexico’s Sixth District Court Declares Section 72-12-1.1, Addressing Mandatory Authorization of Domestic Well Permits, Unconstitutional October 2008

First and Fourth Districts Reach Different Results on Private Attorney General Fee Awards where Petitioners Achieve Limited CEQA Claims Success October 2005

First District Court Clarifies When Statements of Technical Issues Constitute Substantial Evidence and When Aesthetic Impacts Will Be Considered Significant under CEQA November 2004

Parent Corporation Successfully Avoids Operator and Arranger Liability. July 2004

District Court: District Court in Delaware Reconsiders Prior Ruling and Allows CERCLA Action to Proceed against Corporate Parent July 2002

News From the West March 2006

Ninth Circuit Rules that Private Landowners Have No Action for Interference with Groundwater Rights where a Neighbor Is Pumping Groundwater to Benefit the Land from which the Water Was Withdrawn February 2006

City of Santa Cruz under No Obligation to Provide a Private Open Space Credit against Quimby Act Park and Recreation Fees Assessed against Developer June 2006

News from the West July 2008

Fifth District Court Holds that Post-1913 Water Right Can Be Perfected between Private Parties—Issue Still Unresolved by California High Court June 2008

News from the West April 2010

Second District Finds a Prescriptive Easement in Water Pipeline from a Gravity-Fed Spring March 2010

Seventh Circuit Decides When the Government Must Pay Attorneys’ Fees Following an Administrative Action to Decide a Clean Water Act Violation December 2005

Oregon Court of Appeals Narrows Scope of Exemptions in Oregon’s Removal-Fill Permitting Laws Regarding Essential Habitat June 2007

Eleventh Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Challenges to Remediation of Superfund Site already in Progress January 2003

Tenth Circuit Provides Guidance on How to Determine a ‘Prevailing Party’ in Fee-Shifting Cases December 2005

Insurance Company Has No Duty to Defend Policyholder where Alleged Misconduct Occurred outside the Coverage Period April 2001

Colorado Supreme Court Ends 15-Year Case on Proposed Subdivision Water Supply-Augmentation Plan Insufficient for Groundwater Rights January 2009

News from the West January 2009

Court of Appeal: Tenth Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment for Defendant in Clean Water Act Case where there Was No Evidence of Point-source Discharge October 2002

Tenth Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment for Defendant in Clean Water Act Case where There Was No Evidence of Point-source Discharge September 2002

Second Circuit Finds Union Has Standing but Failed to Properly Plead Clean Water Act Claim June 2006

Fifth District Rules Affordable Housing In-Lieu Fees Must Be ‘Reasonably Related’ to the Impacts Generated by New Development Project April 2009

Fourth District Upholds San Diego RWQCB Permit Aimed at Reducing Runoff from Municipal Storm Sewers January 2005

San Diego Stormwater Permit Challenged in Superior Court. March 2002

Sacramento County Superior Court to Reconsider Ruling on Validity of Water Rates and Connection Fees January 2001

Federal: D.C. Circuit Finds that Failure to Seek Comment on Scientific Study Received During Comment Period for Listing Decision Did Not Violate the Administrative Procedures Act July 2001

Costa Hawkins Act Preempts Local Agency Regulation of the Amount of Rent Charged for Vacant Replacement Units April 2003

U.S. Supreme Court Quells Injunction against Display of Latin Cross Where Transfer of Land to Private Party Changed Circumstances Underlying Injunction’s Purpose July 2010

Presence of Cross on Federally-Owned Land Violates Establishment Clause. July 2004

Second District Rules Coastal Commission Lacks Permitting Authority with Respect to Fence Repair that Was Integral to a Boundary Agreement February 2009

New Hampshire Supreme Court Finds Owner of Subdivision Has No Right to Access Nearby Lake January 2010

Fifth Circuit Finds CERCLA’s Federally Required Commencement Date Does Not Preempt a Texas Statute of Repose September 2005

District Court Finds a Party Subject to a CERCLA Section 106 Order Is Limited to a Section 113 Claim January 2010

District Court Applies Burlington Northern, Holds Defendant’s Liability from Its Contribution to a Defective Commingled Product Is Merely Several October 2009

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Joint and Several Liability Where a Reasonable Basis for Apportionment Exists, and Limits Arranger Liability July 2009

Apportionment Is Here to Stay and Knowledge of Disposal Is Simply Not Enough for CERCLA Arranger Liability June 2009

U.S. Supreme Court Limits CERCLA Arranger Liability and Eliminates Presumption of Joint and Several Liability in Section 107 Actions June 2009

CERCLA and the U.S. Supreme Court: Good Bye Apportionment, Hello Arranger Liability for Chemical Manufacturers? December 2008

Ninth Circuit Affirms District Court Order Compelling the Production of Responsive Privileged Documents Due to Failure to Timely Submit a Privilege Log May 2005

Second Circuit Finds Insured Proved Coverage under Lost Policies in Connection with Four New York Waste Disposal Sites October 2002

Second District Affirms CEQA Exemption for Transportation Rate Increase January 2010

Application to Appropriate Denied in Judicial Review Action as Violating the Anti-Speculation Requirement under Utah Law January 2003

River Protector Groups Intervene in Federal Court Suit on Behalf of the Jefferson County Storm Water Management Authority August 2006

Utah Supreme Court Reaffirms Evolving Concept of Beneficial Use October 2004

Second District Court Finds Feral Peafowl Are Not Instrumentalities of Palos Verdes Estates—City’s Peafowl Management Program Is Lawful February 2006

Butte County’s Approval of Negative Declaration on Tuscan Aquifer Project Challenged in Butte County Superior Court February 2009

Superior Court finds State Must Perform Environmental Review for Completed 2009 Drought Water Bank May 2010

Environmental Group Sues Irrigation District for Allegedly Violating CEQA when Approving Plan to Drill Research Groundwater Wells February 2008

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Considers Excluding Developing Areas from Vernal Pool Species Critical Habitat Based upon Draft Economic Impact Analysis August 2005

Environmental Group Challenges Crop Idling Water Transfer Program as Potentially Harmful to Fish Habitat and Water Quality in the Delta June 2008

News from the West August 2010

Ninth Circuit Validates Agency Findings Approving Business Park’s Impact on Wetlands and Endangered Species July 2010

News from the West April 2009

Environmental Groups Sue State Challenging CEQA Compliance for Drought Water Bank June 2009