Issue: 2024 Vol. 44 No. 1

Planning & Conservation League v. Dep’t of Water Res., 98 Cal. App. 5th 726 (2024)

Facts This case arises, at a foundational level, out of California’s difficulties in maintaining a consistent and evenly distributed water supply.1 California’s greatest need for water lies in its south during the summer, yet the state receives most of its precipitation in the north during the winter.2 Due to these water supply issues, California established the State … Continued

Juliana v. United States, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231191 (D. Or. Dec. 29, 2023)

Facts and Procedural History In 2015, 21 plaintiffs, including young people and “future generations,” filed a civil rights lawsuit alleging that the federal government, by subsidizing fossil fuel extraction and consumption, is responsible for destroying the climate on which their life, liberty, and property depends in violation of their rights under the Due Process Clause … Continued

DG N.Y. CS, LLC v. Norbut Solar Farm, LLC, No. 23-CV-971, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3277 (N.D.N.Y Jan. 8, 2024)

Facts Plaintiffs are seven LLCs that have leased parcels of undeveloped land in the Upstate New York towns of Enfield and Coventry.1 The plaintiffs have improved the land by building the necessary infrastructure for solar energy farms.2 The defendants are a Rochester-area businessman named David Norbut (Norbut) and three of his closely held companies that own the … Continued

Delaware v. BP Am. Inc., No. N20C-09-097 (Del. Super. Ct. Feb. 12, 2024)

Facts This case arises from an action brought by the state of Delaware (the state) against major players in the fossil fuel industry, including BP America Inc., Chevron Corporation, and Exxon Mobil Corporation, inter alia (collectively, the Defendants).1 Claims included: (1) negligent failure to warn, (2) trespass, (3) common law nuisance, and (4) violations of the Delaware Consumer … Continued

Suzanne P. v. Joint Bd. of Dir. of Erie-Wyoming Cnty. Soil Conservation Dist., 2024 N.Y. Slip Op 00159 (N.Y. 2024)

Facts The plaintiff in this case is Suzanne P., the mother of a 14-year-old boy who tragically died after sustaining injuries while swimming in the Buffalo Creek near the Easing Sills low-head dams in Erie County, New York.1 While swimming, the child was pulled underwater by a “hydraulic boil,” causing him to sustain drowning injuries that … Continued

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Mgmt., No. 3:23-cv-00058-SLG, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 201981 (D. Alaska Nov. 9, 2023)

Facts Lawsuits filed against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) agency that authorizes oil and gas production on leases in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, challenged the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) for the Willow Master Development Plan (the Willow Project). … Continued

Riverkeeper, Inc. v. N.Y.C. Dep’t of Env’t Prot., 2023 NYLJ LEXIS 3245 (Sup. Ct., Queens Co. 2023)

Facts The Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act (SPRTKA) was enacted by New York State in an effort to alert the public about “nearby waterbodies which have been polluted by sewage discharges to protect their health and safety.”1 SPRTKA mandates municipalities notify residents in the event of combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharge events—events where untreated and … Continued

Rise St. James v. La. Dep’t of Env’t Quality, No. 2023 0578 (La. Ct. App. Jan. 19, 2024)

Facts Intervenor Formosa proposed to construct a “large chemical manufacturing complex consisting of fourteen separate facilities . . . located along the Mississippi River in St. James Parish, Louisiana.”1 Formosa submitted all relevant and necessary paperwork, subject to Title V/Part 70, to defendant Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for review. Upon receiving the permit request, … Continued

DLV Quogue, LLC v. Town of Southampton, 2023 N.Y.L.J. LEXIS 3491 (Sup. Ct., Suffolk Co. Dec. 15, 2023)

Facts Plaintiffs, including DLV Quogue, LLC, who are developers of a mixed-use commercial golf club and resort residential community called The Hills at Southampton, and Defendants, including the Town of Southampton (the Town), each moved for summary judgment regarding their dispute over land use and mixed-use development. Plaintiffs claimed they had a property right in … Continued