The Ninth Circuit held that federal law preempts Washington State's Cleanup Priority Act, a statute enacted through the passage of a voter initiative. The Act was intended to "prevent the addition of new radioactive and hazardous waste" at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation site until cleanup of existi...

The court holds that, as applied to industrial truck manufacturers and distributors, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) hazard communication standard (HCS) preempt enforcement of the occupational warning requirements unde...

The court holds that a Wisconsin farming family's state-law claims against a pesticide manufacturer are preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The family filed negligence and fraudulent representation claims based on the manufacturer's alleged off-label stateme...

The court holds that a U.S. Forest Service proposal for a logging project and road extension in the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), but not the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). The court first holds that neither the district cour...

The court holds that oil pollution claims arising under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) are not subject to the Limitation of Shipowner's Liability Act of 1851 or to the concursus of claims under Rule F of the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims of the Federal Rules of Ci...

The court holds that 15 of Washington State's 16 best achievable protection (BAP) oil spill prevention regulations are not preempted by federal law. The court first holds that the BAP regulations are not preempted by the Oil Pollution Act (OPA). OPA §1018 provides that nothing in the OPA preempts s...

A judge dissents from the Ninth Circuit's decision not to rehear a case addressing the Oil Pollution Act's (OPA's) preemptive effect on Washington State's oil spill prevention regulations. The initial Ninth Circuit opinion held that the OPA did not preempt the majority of the state's oil spill regul...

The D.C. Circuit reversed and remanded a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order allowing states to regulate the reimbursement of "headwater benefits" from downstream hydropower plants to upstream dam operators. To enable upstream firms to recoup part of the cost of conferring headwater be...

The Fourth Circuit held that the Federal Power Act (FPA) does not grant the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permitting jurisdiction when a state denies approval of a permit application within one year. Two state utilities commissions and two community interest organizations challenged se...

The D.C. Circuit denied a petition challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 's (FERC's) approval of the Electric Reliability Organization's (ERO's) method for allocating costs based on net energy for load. The ERO was created under §215 of the Federal Power Act to establish and enfo...