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RCRA Enforcement and the Statute of Limitations

Editors' Summary: EPA's RCRA enforcement program will face a serious threat as defendants begin to raise statute of limitations defenses. The five-year federal statute of limitations is now expiring for many RCRA violations. Many statute of limitations issues remain unresolved, including what, if any, is the proper statute of limitations in civil or criminal court actions and when does it begin running, and whether administrative proceedings toll the statute.

A Critique of the Takings Executive Order in the Context of Environmental Regulation

Editors' Summary: On March 15, 1988, President Reagan signed Executive Order 12630 entitled "Governmental Actions and Interference With Constitutionally Protected Property Rights." In the July issue of ELR, Roger Marzulla, head of the Land and Natural Resource Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, described the genesis of the takings Executive Order and how it might affect environmental regulation. Mr.

The Takings Executive Order: Constitutional Jurisprudence or Political Philosophy?

Editors' Summary: On March 15, 1988, President Reagan signed Executive Order 12630 entitled "Governmental Actions and Interference With Constitutionally Protected Property Rights." In the July issue of ELR, Roger Marzulla, head of the Land and Natural Resource Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, described the genesis of the takings Executive Order and how it might affect environmental regulation. Mr.

The Costs of Environmental Alternative Dispute Resolution

In his recent Article advocating greater use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in enforcement actions, Richard Mays thoroughly analyzed the benefits of ADR but failed to adequately discuss its drawbacks.1 This Dialogue identifies problems associated with Agency promotion of ADR and recommends that the status quo of infrequent and highly selective use of ADR techniques is entirely healthy.

CERCLA Compliance With RCRA: The Labyrinth

Editors' Summary: The question of to what extent Superfund cleanups must comply with RCRA's hazardous waste disposal requirements—often called the "RCRA/CERCLA interface"—is easily one of environmental law's most complex issues. It must be addressed at virtually every cleanup site, and millions of dollars of cleanup costs and months of delay can hang on its resolution. In this Article, the author describes the evolution of the doctrine that Superfund remedial actions must comply with the "applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements" (ARARs) of other laws.

The Swamps-on-a-Hill Have Citizens on a Roll: The Fourth Circuit Advances the Citizens' Cause in National Wildlife Federation v. Hanson

On October 14, 1988, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an attorneys fees ruling1 clarifying citizens' rights to challenge Corps of Engineers' determinations that areas are not wetlands and thus not subject to the permitting requirements of §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA or the Act).2 The decision comes in a case that may be the largest enforcement action, in terms of acreage, ever brought by government or citizenry.3 It was brought by the National Wildlife Federation and th

Coming to Grips With Toxic Waste: The Need for Cooperative Federalism in the Superfund Program

Editors' Summary: The Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program is under increasing attack as slow, inflexible, and inclined toward inconsistent administration in various regions around the country. While EPA defends itself vigorously, asserting that these criticisms are exaggerated and that outsiders often do not acknowledge the complexities of hazardous waste cleanup, the fact remains that in its ninth year of implementation the Superfund program has still not lived up to public expectations.

To Clean Up Landfills, the Leader Should Be Municipalities Using Economic Incentives to Settle

Editors' Summary: The Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program is under increasing attack as slow, inflexible, and inclined toward inconsistent administration in various regions around the country. While EPA defends itself vigorously, asserting that these criticisms are exaggerated and that outsiders often do not acknowledge the complexities of hazardous waste cleanup, the fact remains that in its ninth year of implementation the Superfund program has still not lived up to public expectations.

Restructuring Environmental Law

Beginning with enactment of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA),1 and continuing through the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA)2 and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA),3 Congress has been engaged for almost a decade in a fundamental restructuring of environmental law.