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In 1971, the citizens of Pennsylvania overwhelmingly approved a proposed amendment to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Constitution’s Declaration of Rights, now known as the “Environmental Rights Amendment” (ERA). The amendment provides:

The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic, and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.

On June 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Governor Tom Wolf, held , in a 4 to 32 ruling, that two 2009 fiscal laws passed by the legislature were facially unconstitutional under the ERA because they did not provide that all funds generated by royalties from the leasing of state lands for the exploration and production of oil and gas were wholly directed to the protection and preservation of the Commonwealth’s public natural resources.
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On July 13, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided the case of United States v. Sierra Pacific Industries, et al. This is referred to as the “ Moonlight Fire” case.

The Ninth Circuit framed the issues before it as follows:

We are asked to decide whether certain allegations of fraud, some of which were known before the parties settled, and some of which came to light after the settlement, rise to a level of fraud on the court, such that relief from the settlement agreement is warranted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(d)(3).

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In California Supreme Court Decision Changes the Transfer Tax World, Pillsbury attorneys Craig Becker, Richard Nielsen, Breann Robowski and Dianne Sweeney discuss the California Supreme Court’s decision in 926 North Armore Avenue, LLC v. County of Los Angeles:

  • Court concludes counties and cities are permitted to impose a documentary transfer tax on entity transfers that result in a Proposition 13 “change in ownership” under California Revenue & Taxation Code § 64(c) or 64(d).

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The first Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ( RCRA) solid waste definitional decision, the celebrated American Mining Congress v. EPA case, was decided exactly 30 years ago, and it reverberates to this day.

In American Petroleum Institute v. EPA, decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on July 7, 2017, the Court of Appeals reviews the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest effort to regulate the recycling of hazardous secondary materials in a way that is consistent with the RCRA. RCRA provides that only truly discarded materials can be solid wastes and perhaps regulated hazardous wastes. The Court of Appeals has now handed down its opinion, which, as befits RCRA, is very complex.

This is another decision that illustrates the powerful role the federal courts play in the proper interpretation of the environmental laws that apply to many industries, including the real estate and construction industries.

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On July 6, the California Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in Lynch v. California Coastal Commission (case no. S221980). In this case, coastal homeowners alleged that, in issuing a permit to construct a protective seawall, the California Coastal Commission imposed unconstitutional conditions. In particular, the plaintiffs objected to the permit being limited to a 20-year term, after which they could be required to remove the seawall. However, to the disappointment of many who closely watched the case (as well as the plaintiffs), the Court declined to reach constitutional issues. Instead, the Court ruled that the homeowners waived their objection to permit conditions by constructing the seawall prior to the resolution of litigation.

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On July 3, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held, in a 2 to 1 decision, that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacked authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to issue a temporary stay of its new methane rule that had been promulgated in June 2016. This new rule, which affects many oil and gas producers, took effect on August 21, 2016. The case is Clean Air Act Council, et al. v. EPA.

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On June 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an important ruing regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation and registration of pesticides. The case is Center for Biological Diversity, et al. v. EPA, and it involves the intersection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The Court of Appeals granted the FIFRA petition, dismissed the ESA petition, and remanded the matter to EPA without vacatur for additional consideration by EPA. Remand “without vacatur” is a judicial remedy that permits the agency’s order or rule to remain in effect after they are remanded by the reviewing court for further agency proceedings. The dissenting judge argued that the plaintiffs had not satisfied their burden of proof to establish their right to maintain this lawsuit.

These decision illustrates the powerful role the federal courts play in the proper interpretation of the environmental laws that apply to many industries and commercial and industrial activities.

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On June 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an important ruling in the case of Murray Energy Corp., et al., v. EPA. At issue was the duty of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Section 321 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to conduct “continuing evaluations of potential loss or shifts of employment” which may result from EPA’s regulatory actions. The Court of Appeals reversed the District Court, holding that, properly construed, Section 321’s provisions are open-ended, and establish no start-dates, deadlines or any other time-related instructions to guide EPA’s continuous evaluation efforts. It reasoned that EPA is therefore left with considerable discretion in managing its continuous evaluations, and thus it is not a non-discretionary obligation placed on EPA that is susceptible to a lawsuit under Section 304 of the CAA. It found that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia was therefore without jurisdiction to decide this case.

This is another case that illustrates the powerful role the federal courts play in the proper interpretation of the environmental laws that apply to many industries, including the real estate and construction industries, as well as to commercial and industrial activities.

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Treasury-logoIn their recent client alert “CFIUS and Real Estate,” colleagues Nancy A. Fischer, Jenny Y. Liu, Matthew R. Rabinowitz examine how an influx of foreign  investments in U.S. real estate has led three key U.S. Senators to request a review of how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) examines real estate transactions.

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Today, the U.S. Supreme Court held that there was no compensable taking of Petitioners’ property in Murr v. Wisconsin. Petitioners who own two adjacent lots along a waterfront in Wisconsin were not deprived of all economically beneficial use of their property. A formalistic approach to the issue was rejected. Instead of relying solely on lot lines, the Court considered fairness and factual analysis, noting its regulatory takings jurisprudence is based on flexibility.

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