In this month's Supreme Court roundup, we take a look at the arguments in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District and Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles, both of which the court heard in January.

In Koontz, the key question at hand is, when do a permitting authority's demands for offsite environmental mitigation constitute a taking? It is commonplace that when a proposed development project is perceived to cause environmental harm, a permit will be issued only if the landowner agrees to “mitigate” the harm. In Nollan v. California Coastal Comm'n (1987) and Dolan v. City of Tigard (1994), the Supreme Court addressed permit conditions generally, holding that they do not constitute unconstitutional government takings provided the conditions have an “essential nexus” to the development project and are “roughly proportional” to the harm it causes. In Koontz, the Supreme Court will address whether the takings analysis set forth in Nollan and Dolan applies to a permitting authority's demands for offsite mitigation in the form of payments for government environmental projects.

Koontz sought a permit to fill three acres of wetlands on his 14-acre parcel, and he offered to dedicate the remaining 11 acres as protected wetlands in mitigation. The Water District insisted that Koontz also pay for repairs to about 50 acres of Water District-owned wetlands within a few miles of his property. Koontz sued, alleging that the demand for offsite mitigation did not meet the Nollan/Dolan tests and therefore inversely condemned his property.