The court rules that the federal government has not waived its sovereign immunity under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) §6001 to actions brought by states for civil penalties. Waivers of sovereign immunity must be clear and unambiguous. Civil penalties are not clearly included in RCRA...

The court holds that a compliance order issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Clean Air Act §113(a)(3), finding a violation of the asbestos standards under §112, is not subject to judicial review. The plaintiff is an asbestos abatement contractor that performed asbestos removal...

The court holds that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC's) failure to designate property as freshwater wetlands on a tentative map does not exempt the property from regulation under the state Freshwater Wetlands Act, and tentative designation does not constitute a taking. T...

The en banc court divides evenly on whether petitioners have standing to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) new formulas for calculating automobile fuel efficiency. The court therefore reinstates the original panel decision, which affirmed in part and reversed in part EPA's rule...

The court holds that the issuance of oil and gas leases allowing some surface disturbance in a potential wilderness area must be preceded by preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), that the no-action alternative must be considered ev...

The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) withdrawal of its proposed relisting of six hazardous smelting wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was arbitrary and capricious. A 1980 RCRA amendment known as the Bevill Amendment required EPA to exclude s...

The court holds that the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by selling oil and gas leases on national forest land in Montana without preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS), and that the sale of the leases without a compre...

Three-judge panel affirms district court order voiding Army Corps permit for landfill for proposed Hudson River Expressway. District court properly assumed subject matter jurisdiction under APA and Abbott Lab. v. Gardner. Citizens Committee and Sierra Club have standing because of "adversary" and "l...

Defendant's motion for dismissal granted in qui tam action in which plaintiff was attempting to recover one-half of any fines levied for violations of the Refuse Act by defendant's pulp mill. The court held that if it allowed plaintiff's suit to go forward it would have to determine priority between...

Taxpayer's class action under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to enjoin the Secretary of Transportation from committing emergency relief funds for road repair under 23 U.S.C. §125 dismissed by court, because the complaint did not state a valid claim for relief. NEPA held to be a declar...