Fourth District Court Finds County Landfill Monitoring Wells Are Not an “Improvement” Giving Rise to Cause of Action for Negligent Development of Land January 2005

Fifth District Court Reaffirms Attorney’s Fee Recovery for Violation of Brown Act and Public Records Act December 2008

California Supreme Court Holds that Unreasonable Costs and Fees Incurred During Rent-Control Proceedings Can Justify a § 1983 Claim April 2001

Legal Classifications for Colorado Surface Water Rights Hinge on Showing of Hydrologic Connection with Ground Water February 2007

First District Court Holds Litigation Privilege Protects Communications Made by Project Proponent during CEQA Environmental Review Process March 2008

Sacramento Citizens’ Group Files Lawsuit Challenging Natomas Levee Project May 2009

Sacramento Citizens’ Group Files Lawsuit Challenging Natomas Levee Project May 2009

Supreme Court: Antiquated Subdivision Map, Alone, Insufficient to Create Legal Subdivision under Subdivision Map Act April 2003

First District Court of Appeal Answers Question Left Open by Supreme Court - Pre-1893 Map Recordation Alone Does Not Create a Legal Subdivision December 2001

District Court Refuses to Grant Summary Judgment in a DES Suit Due to Unresolved Fact Questions March 2006

Absence of Evidence that Testing Procedure Was Generally Accepted Science Precludes Environmental Expert from Opining on Mycotoxins May 2006

Sixth Circuit Upholds Plaintiff’s Recovery of a Percentage of Landfill Clean-up Costs where Defendant Arranged for Disposal under CERCLA §9607(a) January 2005

Sixth Circuit Denies Post Cooper Industries Relief under Federal Rule 60(b)(6)—Emphasizing the Need to Preserve All Appellate Arguments April 2007

District Court Refuses to Reconsider Cost Recovery Judgment Despite Supreme Court Decision in Cooper Industries December 2005

CERCLA Section 113(h) Bars Pre-Enforcement Due Process Challenge May 2003

District Court Denies Attorney's Fees against Defendant Who Failed to Oppose Motion for Summary Judgment November 2002

General Electric Files Complaint Arguing that EPA's Issuance of Unilateral Administrative Orders under CERCLA Is Unconstitutional January 2001

District Court Holds EPA’s Issuance of Unilateral Orders to Address ‘Imminent Endangerment’ Pursuant to CERCLA Section 106 Does Not Violate Due Process May 2009

D.C. District Court Partially Dismisses Claim that CERCLA Section 106 Orders Are Unconstitutional June 2005

Georgia Supreme Court Holds that Party Merely Planning to Lease Property May Not Recover Damages for Contamination of the Site April 2005

Court of Appeals: D.C. Circuit Vacates EPA's PCB Risk Assessment Review Guidance Document. July 2002

D.C. Circuit Allows General Electric to Challenge EPA Action under CERCLA as Unconstitutional April 2004

D.C. Circuit Rejects Petition to Review Environmental Protection Agency Letters as Final Agency Action May 2004

The Nation’s Water Wars Head East February 2004

Eleventh Circuit Reverses District Court and Grants Intervention to Florida and Power Customers in Interstate Water Dispute November 2002

California Supreme Court Determines that Mere Acquisition of Lands By Park District Does Not Constitute an ‘Actual Dedication’ July 2009

Recent Federal Decisions Fifth Circuit Adopts Tenth Circuit's Rule to Fill Gap in CERCLA's Statute of Limitation February 2001

Ninth Circuit Issues Opinions in Three Unrelated Cases Regarding the Constitutionality of Local Ordinances Restricting Billboards January 2008

Ninth Circuit Sharpens the Regulatory Teeth of Critical Habitat at the Expense of Landowners and Proponents of Habitat Conservation Plans November 2004

District Court Holds Alleging Violations of RCRA as Part of a Civil Conspiracy Claim Does Not Present a Federal Question for Jurisdiction July 2009

Fifth Circuit Affirms Louisiana's Right to Regulate Navigation in the Outer Bar September 2002

Sixth District Upholds EIR for Proposed Wal-Mart Despite Failure to Provide Full 45-Day Comment Period August 2006

aaa April 2008

Michigan Supreme Court Protects the Public’s Right to Walk Great Lakes Shorelands and Beaches January 2006

aaa April 2008

Ninth Circuit Holds that NEPA Does Not Apply to Actions of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency November 2005

Sacramento River Water Rights Settlement Contractors Sue United States over Contract Renewal Issues December 2001

Ninth Circuit Finds Indian Lands Held in Fee Simple Are Not Subject to County Regulations Absent Explicit Congressional Intent or Exceptional Circumstances November 2002

Second District Court of Appeal Finds Landslide Caused by El Nino Rains and Water Main Breaks Did Not Give Rise to Inverse Condemnation Claims December 2001

California Appellate Court Requires Insured To Prove Amount of Damage Caused by Covered Event in order To Be Reimbursed for Clean-Up Costs under Insurance Policy April 2001

First District Court Upholds County Order to Remove Recreational Club’s Long-Standing Illegal Structures October 2008

Judicial Stay Lifted Allowing State Water Resources Control Board Perchlorate Hearings to Rekindle March 2009

Due Process Violations Allegation Bring State Water Resources Control Board Proceeding to a Standstill May 2008

News From the West March 2006

Ninth Circuit Holds Diminution of Property Value Due to Environmental Contamination Does Not Invoke a Duty to Indemnify or Constitute Damages under General Insurance Policy February 2008

City of Upland's Transfer of Property Violated the Community Redevelopment Law August 2002

District Court Overturns Fish and Wildlife Service Glen Canyon Dam BiOp but Upholds US Bureau of Reclamations’s Environmental Assessment August 2009

News from the West October 2009

Declarations Regarding Possible Fair Market Value Loss of Member’s Home Is Insufficient to Establish ‘Standing’ to Sue EPA under Alleged RCRA Violation January 2006

EPA Wrongly Denied California’s Waiver Request to Federal Oxygenated Gas Standards by Not Evaluating Waiver’s Beneficial Effects on Particulate Matter. September 2003

News from the West January 2009

Fifth District Court Concludes that County Approval of Hard Rock Quarry Was Improper Due to Errors in the EIR and Failure to Satisfy SB 610 December 2008

Fourth District Court Upholds Clear Language Granting Exclusive Use of Easement to Bar Servient Tenement from Asserting Limited Rights of Access December 2008

District Court Rejects Private Claims under the Illinois Environmental Protection Act May 2003

News from the West May 2009

California Supreme Court: California Supreme Court Holds State Law Does Not Compel Counties to Allow County Property to Be Used for Gun Shows at Which Guns Are Sold June 2002

Second Circuit Upholds District Court Ruling that State Environmental Land Use Statute Is Preempted by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 June 2005

Utah Supreme Court Finds that Contract Reaffirms Overriding Principle of Beneficial Use of Water in Contract Dispute between Water Users January 2004

First District Holds that Ballots In Storm Drainage fee Elections Must Be Kept Confidential May 2009

Seventh Circuit Finds Discharge of Dredged Materials from a Supply Pond into a Contiguous River to Violate the Clean Water Act. June 2004

Seventh Circuit Finds Discharge of Dredged Materials from a Supply Pond into a Contiguous River to Violate the Clean Water Act May 2004

New Hampshire Supreme Court Affirms Developer’s Right to Proceed in Construction within Wetlands Area February 2007

Planning and Litigation in Glendale: The Story and the Morals of Gregg v. City of Glendale June 2003

First District Revisits Prevailing Wage Law in Connection with Redevelopment Agency’s Reimbursement of Land Acquisition Costs to Developer January 2006

Eleventh Circuit Finds Public Officials Entitled to Qualified Immunity on Equal Protection Claim Relative to Environmental Enforcement November 2007

Maine High Court Holds Bottled Water Company Prevails over Adjacent Land Owners October 2007

Colorado Supreme Court Reverses Award of Attorney Fees in Voluntary Dismissal of Water Right Applications When Dismissal Was With Prejudice October 2003

Fourth of July Celebration Halted by California Coastal Commission’s Ceaseand- Desist Order—Superior Court and Court of Appeal Affirm the Order August 2008

CEQA Petitioner with Notice that a Change of Venue Is Complete Is Not Excused from Requesting a Hearing Within the Mandatory 90-day Period October 2001

Guggenheim v. City of Goleta—The Ninth Circuit Breaks New Ground for Property Rights and Generates Great Controversy November 2009

Ninth Circuit Upholds Mobilehome Park Owners’ Facial Takings Challenge to City’s Mobile Home Rent Control Ordinance November 2009

Texas Supreme Court Judges ‘Historic Use of Groundwater’ in Terms of Both Quantity and Purpose December 2008

District Court Holds Notices of Violation and Agency Investigations are Insufficient to Trigger Clean Water Act Provisions Barring Citizen Suits January 2010

Ninth Circuit Declares RLUIPA Constitutional—Holds that Sutter County Violated Rights of Religious Organization by Denying Land Use Approvals October 2006

News from the West October 2009

Supreme Court Concludes County Is Immune from Suit for Alleged Failure to Ensure Residents Are Notified about Water Contamination August 2009

Sixth District Court Holds California Safe Drinking Water Act Imposes Mandatory Duties on Health Of- ficials to Review and Respond to Water Quality Monitoring Reports December 2007