ELR Citation: 51 ELR 20129
No(s). 20-1456 (1st Cir. Jul 1, 2021)

The First Circuit vacated a district court order staying a CWA and RCRA citizen suit brought against an oil company. An environmental group argued, among other things, that the company had violated CWA and RCRA by failing to account for climate change factors at its petroleum storage and distribution facility in Massachusetts. The district court stayed the proceedings under the primary jurisdiction doctrine to give EPA time to renew the facility's NPDES permit. The appellate court found that whether and on what terms the Agency issued a new permit was largely irrelevant to whether the company violated the conditions of the permit currently in effect, and that the stay was unlikely to aid in the national uniformity of the meaning of the terms at issue in the permit or the appropriate scope of climate change regulations since EPA was not tasked with interpreting them. It therefore vacated the stay order and remanded for further proceedings.