ELR Citation: ELR 20743
No(s). 88-502-Civ-J-14 (M.D. Fla. Jul 5, 1989)

The court rules that §113(j) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), added by the 1986 amendments to limit judicial review of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) response actions to the administrative record under the arbitrary and capricious standard, applies retroactively. Neither CERCLA nor its legislative history indicates that Congress intended the 1986 amendments to apply only to those cases that began post-enactment. Further, defendant will suffer no manifest injustice if §113(j) is applied retroactively. The court declines to rule on the application of §113(j) to EPA claims for injunctive relief under CERCLA §106, since a partial consent decree has resolved the injunctive relief claims.

Counsel for Plaintiff
Dorothea Beane, Ass't U.S. Attorney; Lawrence W. Puckett
Land & Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 633-3194

Counsel for Defendant
Charles H. Tisdale Jr.
King & Spalding
2500 Trust Company Tower, Atlanta GA 30303
(404) 572-4600

John A. DeVault III
Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault & Pillans
The Bedell Bldg., 101 E. Adams St., Jacksonville FL 32202
(904) 353-0211