Court of Appeal Finds Offsite View Corridor Mitigation Is Consistent with Requirements of the California Coastal Act November 2002

Second District Court Orders New City Council Hearing because L.A.Council Members Were Inattentive. February 2005

First District Rules Consultant Hired by County to Prepare EIR Owed No Duty to Developer to Timely Complete the Document December 2009

Maine Supreme Court Finds Easement Permits Resort to Dominate Pond Owned by Lakeside Condominium Association August 2009

New Hampshire Supreme Court holds City Cannot Regulate Boat Docks Due to State Law Preemption January 2009

Ninth Circuit Holds County Council Members Have No Individual Legislative Immunity under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 in Their Denial of a Conditional Use Permit March 2003

TEXAS: State Appellate Court Upholds Criminal Fine against Homeowner for Unlawful Discharge of Sewage November 2001

Ninth Circuit Overrules Legal Precedent and Offers Greater Deference under Forest Management Act and NEPA to U.S. Forest Service October 2008

Sixth District Court Upholds Denial of CEQA Petition Challenging Mitigated Negative Declaration for Monterey County Development Project March 2007

State Court Holds Two Half-Brothers Who Owned Separate Parcels May Be Treated as One Person and One Parcel under State Water Act March 2009

Second District Holds a City May Terminate Its Environmental Review of a Proposed Development Project before Completion of an EIR November 2009

Ninth Circuit Finds EPA’s Approval of Local Air District’s Particulate Pollutant Control Program Comports with Clean Air Act Requirements May 2009

Ninth Circuit Concludes that CalFed’s Programmatic Environmental Analysis Is Ripe for Review November 2003

Developer SunCal Northlake Sues Newhall County Water District for Adopting New, Conservative Estimates of the Water Available for Suburban Growth. July 2004

Adrift in the Water: Key Provisions of the Water Quality Program Remain Untethered January 2008

Ninth Circuit Orders U.S. Forest Service to Obtain NPDES Permit and Perform Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement January 2003

Ninth Circuit Holds That an Environmental Impact Statement May Not Tier to a Non-NEPA Document February 2009

Seventh Circuit Refuses to Determine Indemnity Prior to Underlying Finding of Liability March 2004

Ohio District Court Finds Broad Language in a State Court Judgment as Collateral Estoppel January 2006

Fifth District Court Finds CEQA Request for Hearing Requirement Does Not Require the Setting of a Hearing Date January 2005

Ninth Circuit Rules that State Action, for Purposes of Section-1983 Liability, Includes a Private Corporation Acting in a Traditional Public Function March 2002

All Parties to a Clean Water Act Citizen Suit May Be Named in an Insurer's Declaratory Relief Action May 2001

All Parties to a Clean Water Act Citizen Suit May Be Named in an Insurer's Declaratory Relief Action May 2001

New Jersey Court Finds No Coverage for Indoor Carbon Monoxide Poisoning under Limited Form Pollution Exclusion September 2002

Ninth Circuit Holds Third Party Assertion of Property Interest on Behalf of United States Is Sufficient to Satisfy Jurisdictional Requirement under Federal Quiet Title Act December 2002

Eighth Circuit Rejects Insureds’ Attempt to Relitigate Insurance Coverage for Groundwater Contamination where It Uncovered New Evidenece of an “Accidental” Cause September 2003

Sixth District Rules More CEQA Study Needed of Impacts of Off-Leash Dogs on State Beach October 2005

District Court Uses Doctrine of Issue Preclusion to Bar Parties’ Claim that State Emissions Regulation is Preempted by Federal Law March 2009

CEQA’s Neverending Story—Post-Entitlement Enforcement of Mitigation Measures June 2008

Second District Court Finds Ellis Act Does Not Permit Developer to Evict Tenants without Complying with CEQA Mitigation Measures November 2007

Second District Finds Los Angeles Cannot Ignore Mitigation Measures Adopted as Part of Redevelopment Project October 2005

Thrice More into the Breach: The U.S. Supreme Court Takes on Takings in Kelo, San Remo and Lingle August 2005

U.S. Supreme Court Holds That the Agins ‘Substantially Advances’ Test Is Not an Appropriate Inquiry when Reviewing a Regulatory Taking July 2005

Second District Upholds Grant of Equitable Easement for Ingress and Egress; Denies Damage Award June 2009

Ninth Circuit Requires DuPont to Answer RICO Allegations February 2006

Delay Associated with Erroneous Denial of Lot Line Adjustment Did Not Constitute a Taking January 2003

Eleventh Circuit Affirms "Catalyst" Doctrine in Affirming Award of Attorneys' Fees under Federal Environmental Statutes December 2002

News from the West November 2008

Prohibition of Pre-Enforcement Review Lives On— District Court Finds Plaintiffs Challenging U.S. EPA Remedy Barred by CERCLA Section 133(H) January 2010

Second District Holds Business Owner with No Ownership Interest in Property Acquired by Eminent Domain May Recover for Business Goodwill August 2009

District of Columbia Circuit Rejects Environmental Tort Claims Regarding World War II Munitions Testing under Discretionary Function Exception March 2005

Fifth Circuit Upholds Corps of Engineers’ Decision on Louisiana’s Buffalo Cove Pilot Project October 2006

District Court Dismisses Environmental Groups’ Challenge to Post-Katrina Orders Altering Solid Waste Disposal Regulations for Lack of Standing November 2007

Colorado City, Water District, and U.S. Agree to Stay of Litigation to Pursue Federal Legislation to Legitimize Its Use of Arkansas River Water November 2009

Pennsylvania Judge Questions EPA’s Authority to Issue TMDLs February 2006

Instructions to Jury to Consider a Company’s Business Policies in Mitigation of Damages to Determine “Reasonableness” of Conduct Is Proper October 2004

Eleventh Circuit Finds FIFRA Preempts Claim on Failure to Warn about Fire Hazards of Pool Chlorinating Product February 2003

Bankruptcy Court Maneuvering Does Not Stop City's Attempts to Force Cleanup July 2002

Second District Overturns Coastal Commission Denial of Permit for Gates and No Trespassing Signs on Malibu Property July 2007

The Price of Precedent—Idaho Ranchers Assessed $1.5 Million in Fight with BLM over Stockwater Rights on Federal Lands February 2008

Illinois District Court Declines to Dismiss Groundwater Contamination Claim under the Statute of Limitations January 2005

Illinois Federal District Court Declines to Apply the Self-Critical Analysis Privilege” in Environmental Case October 2004

District Court in Illinois Certifies Pollution Case as Class Action January 2004

Illinois District Court Holds CERCLA Strips Court of Jurisdiction to Hear Equitable Relief Claims Related to CERCLA Site August 2003

Ohio Court of Appeals Affirms Dismissal of Trespass and Nuisance Claims Because Contamination Was Insubstantial and Did Not Unreasonably Interfere with Use of Property February 2001

The Public Cannot Gain a Prescriptive Easement over Private Property Based on Prior Recreational Use June 2002

News from the West August 2008

State Court Declares Unconstitutional Portions of Washington’s 2003 Municipal Water Law July 2008

Washington’s Municipal Water Law Appealed to State Supreme Court October 2008

New Mexico Court of Appeals Reaffirms Applications to Change Surface Water Rights to Groundwater Rights Are Not Considered New Appropriations June 2005

Eighth Circuit Defers to EPA’s Statutory Interpretation as to EPA’s Own-Jurisdiction under the Clean Air Act July 2005