Environmental Law › Residential Real Estate › Constitutional Law

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

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

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

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

RCRA Citizen Suits Are Still Constitutional

2012 is shaping up to be the Year of the Commerce Clause. Not only is the Commerce Clause at the center of the Supreme Court ‘s impending review of the Affordable Care Act later this spring; it is also at the heart of a...more

In a Landmark Decision, the Texas Supreme Court Recognizes Vested Property Interest in Groundwater "In Place"

On February 24, 2012, the Texas Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day, one of the most significant water law cases in years. In a unanimous decision, the Court ruled that,...more

Sauce For the Goose? Home Builders Lose a Standing Battle

Developers have cheered in recent years as the Supreme Court has tightened its standing rules. In a decision issued on Friday in National Association of Home Builders v. EPA, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia...more

Marzulla Law Legal Report - September 2011

In This Issue: - Court Upholds Landowner's Contract-Based Mineral Rights In the Elmore/Road Rock, Inc. v. Florida Power & Light breach of contract case, Judge Robert A. Rosenberg of the Complex Litigation Unit of...more

CEQA Mitigation On Conservation Easement Lands: How a Plea to Legislators Killed a Threat to Farmers’ Property Rights (For Now)

Shortly before the close of the last legislative session, I found myself writing a strongly-worded letter (on behalf of myself and interested clients of Miller Starr Regalia) to Governor Brown, the authors of proposed SB 436...more

Marzulla Law Legal Report - July 29, 2011

In This Issue: - Federal Government Admits To Liability In Land Takings: The Otay And Bassett Cases Sometimes the evidence of a taking is so overwhelming that even the federal government has to concede liability....more

Water Resources Committee Newsletter: The Role of Riparian Rights In Ecological Restoration By Nancie G. Marzulla

Introduction Environmental decisions involving water quantity and quality affect us all. After all, water in lakes, streams, and aquifers is a resource that many users must share for a multitude of purposes. And water is a...more

Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State of Hawaii

Brief of Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii as Amicus Curiae in Support of the Petitioners

Yesterday, on behalf of the Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, we filed this brief amicus curiae in the U.S. Supreme Court in Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. Hawaii, No. 10-331 (cert. petition filed Sep. 7, 2010). This...more

The Supreme Court or Congress: Which Will Decide Whether Large Emitters of Greenhouse Gasses May be Held Liable for the Effects of...

As climate change litigation proceeds throughout the country, three cases, Comer v. Murphy Oil, Connecticut v. American Electric Power and Native Village of Kivalina v. ExxonMobil, provide indications of the Supreme Court's...more

In re Trustees Under the Will of the Estate of James Campbell

Brief Amicus Curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation in Support of Appellee

This appeal presents an issue left unaddressed by the Hawaii Supreme Court in In re Robinson, 49 Haw. 429, 421 P.2d 570 (1966). Namely, whether the government waives a reservation of mineral and mining rights when it fails to...more

Illinois Legislature Passes Bills To Encourage Solar Energy Use

Article on bills passed by the Illinois General Assembly to encourage the use of solar energy. This article was written by Dave Scriven-Young, an attorney with Peckar & Abramson, PC, and was originally published on the...more

Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State of Hawaii

Amicus Curiae Pacific Legal Foundation's Memorandum in Support of Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28's Application for a Writ of...

This brief was filed to support the application for writ of certiorari which asks the Hawaii Supreme Court to review the decision of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals in Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State of Hawaii,...more

Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State of Hawaii

Motion of Pacific Legal Foundation for Leave to Submit Brief Amicus Curiae in Support of Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28's Application...

Yesterday, we filed this motion for leave to file brief amicus curiae and a copy of the proposed brief in support of the application for writ of certiorari which asks the Hawaii Supreme Court to review the decision of the...more

Risks in Desiging for LEED Certification

Desiging a building to be LEED certified carries legal risks. Minimize those risks by stating LEED goals, not LEED guarantees....more

Money May Be Available for Lost Development Potential in the New Jersey Highlands Region

In 2004, the New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act (the “Act”) became law. The law created two distinct regions, the Preservation Area and the Planning Area. Development in the Preservation Area was severely...more

Damon Key Attorneys Advocate in U.S. Supreme Court Takings Case

Do judges “make” law, and do courts “take” property when they change it? These questions, and others, are now before the U.S. Supreme Court in a Florida case to be argued in December. In Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc....more

Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection

Brief Amicus Curiae of Owners' Counsel of America in Support of Petitioners

Do judges "make law?" That issue was at the forefront in the recent confirmation hearings for Justice Sonia Sotomayor. While asked the question -- she -- like SCOTUS nominees before her, politely sidestepped the...more

Yucca Mountain Project: federal, state and tribal struggles for sovereignty

Millions fight to save Nevada's people and land from nuclear waste. The Yucca Mountain Project has gone from bad to ugly, and now involves a number of law suits involving federal, state and tribal sovereignty over Yucca...more