Environmental Law › Constitutional Law › Zoning, Planning & Land Use

Canada’s Supreme Court Requires Aboriginal Groups to Follow Statutory Process

On May 9, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Behn v. Moulton Contracting Ltd., 2013 SCC 26, affirming that Aboriginal groups seeking to challenge the validity of permits or authorizations granted to...more

First District Holds CEQA Remedies Provision Allows Park District’s Eminent Domain Action To Proceed Pending Preparation of...

In Golden Gate Land Holdings LLC v. East Bay Regional Park District (4/12/13 1st Dist., Div. 5) _____ Cal.App.4th _____, 2013 WL 1491547, the First District Court of Appeal explored the scope and proper application of CEQA’s...more

Federal Court Holds Local Law Preempted By ESA Settlement

The Palila (Loxioides bailleui) is a small bird native to Hawaii that was listed as endangered in 1967. In 1998, the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, pursuant to a stipulation submitted by the parties, issued...more

Equal Protection Claims Concerning Disparate Enforcement of Environmental Laws Remain an Uphill Battle

In 2000, in its 2-page per curiam opinion in Village of Willowbrook v. Olech, the Supreme Court gave hope to developers and property owners that the equal protection clause could be used to prevent local zoning and...more

California Environmental Law and Policy Update - April 11, 2013

Environmental and Policy Focus - ..Court rules CEQA streamlining provision unconstitutional: CourtHouse News - Apr 3 - A section of a California law aimed at streamlining construction projects by moving...more

Q&A With Bilzin Sumberg's Howard Nelson

Originally Published in Law360 on March 28, 2013. Howard Nelson, chairman of the environmental practice group at Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP, has experience in environmental and land use law and zoning and...more

City of Tombstone v. United States

BRIEF OF THE CATO INSTITUTE, THE RIO GRANDE FOUNDATION, THE MONTANA POLICY INSTITUTE, THE IDAHO FREEDOM FOUNDATION, AND THE...

This brief addresses whether the City of Tombstone is likely to succeed on its claim that its ability to access and repair the sources of its municipal water located on federal land is not trumped by the federal government’s...more

When is a Park not a Park? The SJC Declines to Give Broad Interpretation to Article 97

Earlier this month, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued its decision in Mahajan v. DEP, holding that the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s (BRA) proposed redevelopment of Long Wharf in Boston is not subject to Article 97...more

Federal Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of ESA Fifth Amendment Takings Claim

On February 27, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a Fifth Amendment takings claim based on the finding that the claim was "not ripe." The claim is unusual because it arose in...more

Ohio Court: State Oil And Gas Law Pre-Empts Local Drilling Regulations

The nationwide oil and gas boom has exposed a rift in the relationship between state and local governments seeking to regulate shale drilling and development. This tension has been playing out in several key shale states –...more

What is the "relevant parcel" in a regulatory takings case?

In Lost Tree Village Corporation v. United States, the Federal Circuit addressed this question head on, concluding, to the surprise of no one, that the answer will largely depend upon the unique facts in each case. ...more

The Supreme Court Reverses the 9th Circuit and Reaffirms Its Earlier Interpretation of ‘Discharge’ Under the Clean Water Act

On January 8, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously in L.A. County Flood Control District v. NRDC that the flow of polluted stormwater from an improved portion of a navigable waterway into an unimproved portion of...more

U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Effort To Hold Stormwater Permit Holder Liable For Condition Of Waters Passing Through

The United States Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, has acted to limit a potential liability of municipalities and other stormwater permit holders with respect to the condition of waters entering and passing through their...more

Flood Control District Wins Dispute Over Discharge Of Storm Water That Flows Through Improved Portions Of Navigable Waterways

In its most recent foray into the meaning of the Clean Water Act, the Supreme Court has answered the fundamental question: “Does a ‘discharge of pollutants’ occur when polluted water flows from one portion of a river that is...more

DISPUTE RESOLUTION: Business Litigation Important Texas Water Rights Case Could Affect Oil & Gas Activities as Well by Brannon...

The Texas Supreme Court recently issued an important decision on a groundwater rights question that had gone unanswered for more than a century. In Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day, the Court held that Texas property owners...more

Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Clean Water Act Case

The Supreme Court had oral arguments last Monday (December 3) in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center, just after EPA the previous Friday (November 30) surprisingly issued a new rule clarifying that a NPDES permit...more

Hydraulic Fracking – Recent Developments in CA, NY, NJ and PA

For our readers who are keeping tabs on developments in the hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) industry, we thought you would be interested in Sedgwick’s latest Hydraulic Fracturing News Flash regarding a recent proposal in...more

High Court Weighs In on Surface Owners’ Appeal Rights

In Martin v. Hamblet, decided November 21, 2012, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals determined that a surface owner may not appeal issuance of a well work permit by the Department of Environmental Protection for a...more

How Far Can Government Go When it Comes to Permit Conditions?

The United States Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case brought by a property owner who challenged permit conditions imposed by the St. Johns River Water Management District for permits to develop a portion of the...more

Legal links of interest for the week ending October 5, 2012

Steven Getman: Legal links of Interest for the week ending October 5, 2012 Attorney Steven Getman reports on a number of stories about the law and lawyers in the news this week: Judge rejects birth mother & gives...more

Judge Declares Russian River Frost Protection Regulation Constitutionally Void

On September 26th, 2012, a Mendocino County Superior Court judge declared the Russian River frost protection regulation adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board ("State Water Board") in 2009 to be constitutionally...more

MassDEP Issues Its Decision on the Palmer Bio-mass Facility: Right on the Merits, Wrong on Standing

I finally had an opportunity to review the recent Final Decision in In the Matter of Palmer Renewable Energy, concerning the proposed Palmer biomass facility. Last week, MassDEP Commissioner Ken Kimmell affirmed the...more

Ninth Circuit Dismisses Challenge to Injunction in Delta Smelt Case

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has granted a motion by appellees to dismiss an appeal pursued by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other organizations from an interim order enjoining one...more

Florida Environmentalists Start Petition Drive for Constitutional Amendment Guaranteeing Funds for Environmental Protection Land...

This month, a new drive for environmental protection of Florida's natural resources began in a big way as the "Florida's Water and Land Legacy" campaign kicked off -- its goal: to insure there is money in the coffers to buy...more

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania Strikes Down Zoning and Setback Waiver Provisions Of “Act 13” Oil and Gas Legislation

A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruling has struck down a cornerstone of Act 13, which set forth that municipalities must adopt uniform zoning provisions for the development of natural gas as a prerequisite to the receipt of...more