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News Articles

Washington Supreme Court Exempts State Department of Natural Resources from Liability Under State Cleanup Law

On May 24, 2018, the State of Washington’s Supreme Court issued a decision narrowing the extent of “owner or operator” liability under the state’s Model…

Read More 2018-09-16

Colorado Supreme Court Extends Anti-Speculation Doctrine to Designated Groundwater Replacement Plan

On April 9, 2018, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld the Adams County District Court’s decision granting summary judgment against Front Range Resources, LLC (Front Range)…

Read More 2018-06-08

California Water Commission Announces Final Public Benefit Ratios For Proposed Water Storage Projects

In 2014, California passed Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Act (Act), which authorized $7.545 billion in general obligation bonds to fund ecosystem…

Read More 2018-06-08

Ninth Circuit Upholds Department of the Interior/BIA’s Decision to Take Land Into Trust For a Tribe’s Casino Project

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) decision to take a parcel of land into trust for a tribe…

Read More 2018-06-08

California Court of Appeal Finds San Francisco Housing Discrimination Ordinance Not Preempted By Fair Employment and Housing Act

The question this case posed for the First District Court of Appeal was whether the Federal Employment and Housing Act preempts a San Francisco ordinance…

Read More 2018-06-08

Ninth Circuit Holds that Extinction-Level Threat to Listed Species Is Not Required Before an Injunction Can Issue under the Endangered Species Act

Plaintiffs are environmental conservation groups that filed its action against the Federal Defendants Biological Opinion regarding salmonid species impacted the by Federal Columbia River Power…

Read More 2018-06-08

California Local Nuisance Cases Against Oil and Gas Producers Remanded to State Court

Multiple suits alleging state common law claims against major oil and gas producers have been filed in state court in California in recent months. The…

Read More 2018-06-08

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Relax Emissions Standards for Light-Duty Vehicles

On April 2, 2018, after months of suggesting the Trump administration would roll back the Obama-era greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards applicable to light-duty vehicles,…

Read More 2018-05-02

Controversy Grows with Upper Colorado River Basin States Upset with the Central Arizona Water Conservation District’s Water Strategy

Leaders from the four Colorado River Upper Basin states and Denver Water recently sent a series of letters to the water managers in Arizona claiming…

Read More 2018-05-02

Fourth Circuit Rules Groundwater Discharge May Be Basis For Clean Water Act Citizen Suit On Well Pleaded Claim

A recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision could have some impact on whether the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and related federal Clean…

Read More 2018-05-02