Editors' Summary: Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Corps of Engineers' dredge and fill permit program, is once again the focus of legislative and administrative reform efforts. Legislative reforms include proposed bills to return the Corps' jurisdiction to traditionally navigable waters and to limit permitting time to 90 days. Administrative reforms have been more concrete. In July 1982, the Corps issued amendments to its regulations in response to the goals of the President's Task Force on Regulatory Relief.

Editors' Summary: Almost 40 years ago, in First Iowa Hydro-Electric Cooperative v. Federal Power Commission, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Power Act preempted almost all state controls on hydroelectric development. Over the last 10 years, though, court decisions and statutes have afforded the states increasing power to regulate areas concurrently under federal control. In this Article, Mr. Arnold examines First Iowa in light of these trends.

Editors' Summary: In the landmark Mono Lake case, National Audubon Society v. Superior Court, 13 ELR 20272, the California Supreme Court ruled that long-established water rights are subject to limitations protecting the public trust in navigable waters. The decision is introduced in Rossmann, The Public Trust in Appropriated Waters: California High Court Decides Mono Lake Case, 13 ELR 10109 (1983). In this Article, Harrison C. Dunning analyzes the implications of the decision.

Editors' Summary: In the interests of preserving the scenic and recreational values of its long coastline and guaranteeing the public access necessary for general exploitation of those values, California has developed a system for strictly regulating coastal development. The regulatory system, born in a public initiative in 1972, developed during a four-year planning period, and enacted in the 1976 Coastal Zone Conservation Act, has been a controversial experiment in state land use control to protect an invaluable public resource. Mr.

I enjoyed your comment on RCRA §7003 [RCRA's Imminent Hazard Provision and Inactive Hazardous Waste Dumps: A Reappraisal After United States v. Waste Industries, 13 ELR 10074]. Having helped design the Department of Justice's hazardous waste enforcement program around §7003 and having contributed to the post-hoc legislative "history," I of course think the court in United States v. Waste Industries [13 ELR 20286] should have interpreted §7003 to apply to inactive sites.

On January 12, 1983, the EPA General Counsel and Assistant Administrator for Air, Noise, and Radiation issued a memorandum elaborating on the enforcement policy for stationary air sources in primary non-attainment areas issued on September 20, 1982, 12 ELR 30038. The memorandum is reprinted in the Administrative Materials section of this month's ELR, 13 ELR 30009. The earlier policy set forth plans for enforcement under Clean Air Act §113(b) against sources not in compliance by December 31, 1982, the statutory deadline for attaining the primary ambientair quality standards.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced in the Federal Register "a demonstration project to test an approach to rulemaking frequently referred to as 'Regulatory Negotiation.'" The notice solicited suggestions for subjects that might be addressed by the process.The response was strong and favorable. Approximately 25 candidate rules were submitted from industry and environmental groups and another dozen from EPA.

Editors' Summary: In recent hazardous waste cases, courts have rejected liability insurers' attempts to limit their obligations for unforeseen hazardous pollution. Insurers have been forced to indemnify and defend policyholders for pollution damage arguably excluded from their policies, and have been held to pay the costs of complying with cleanup injunctions. The author reviews several recent cases and considers their implications for the parties, their insurers, and the continued role of insurance in hazardous waste control.

Editors' Summary: One of the most hotly debated issues in environmental law in the last several years has been the nature of the liability of hazardous waste generators under the imminent hazard provisions of RCRA and CERCLA. The federal government has maintained that those who produced the wastes now leaking out of old, unsafe chemical dumps are subject to strict and joint and several liability for abatement action under RCRA §7003 and CERCLA §106.

On May 20, 1983, EPA's Enforcement Counsel issued interim guidance on the controversial Superfund negotiation process (see 13 ELR 10062) to the Agency's 10 regional counsels. The memorandum prescribes principles to guide the regional offices in conducting pre-litigation negotiations until more detailed guidance now in preparation is ready for release. The policies indicate that pre-litigation negotiations may still be initiated, but should not delay initiation of Superfund-financed cleanup actions.