The court affirms a district court grant of summary judgment to an Oregon plywood manufacturer that environmental groups sued under the Clean Water Act (CWA) for failure to renew its national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit. The state enforces the NPDES permit program, part of ...

The court holds that Congress repealed by implication the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Department of Transportation Act insofar as they were being used by environmental groups to challenge a highway project in Pennsylvania. The court first holds that an appropriati...

The court affirms a district court holding that a current owner of contaminated property could not seek Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §113 contribution against a previous owner of the property unless the current owner had incurred or at least faced l...

The court holds that the Clean Air Act (CAA) §209(a) preempts Massachusetts' zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) regulations for automobile manufacturers. In 1993, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted California's ZEV program a CAA §209(b) waiver. Massachusetts then copied the program....

The court holds that it lacks personal jurisdiction over a foreign pesticide manufacturer to review a shipping company's claim that the manufacturer's misidentification of a pesticide's harmful nature caused the company to incur excess costs in responding to a spill of that pesticide in Florida wate...

A New Jersey appellate court held that the state environmental agency properly ordered a theme park to decommission a well used for drinking water after it twice tested positive for E. coli. The well in question tested positive in October 2010, and again in September 2011. The theme park requested t...

A district court held that gas companies will have to face monetary compensation claims under the the New Jersey Spill Act for releases at five sites. The case concerns releases of Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) at five gas stations in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Enviro...

A district court held that St. Louis home owners' nuisance claims against a pharmaceutical company alleging migration of radioactive materials to their property were preempted by the Price-Anderson Act (PAA). The home owners claimed that their property had been damaged by soil, dust, and air contami...

The Sixth Circuit held that the Michigan statute of limitations does not bar a nuisance and negligence suit brought by residents against a petroleum company. The residents brought a class action suit against the petroleum company for ongoing discharges and contamination. The lower court dismissed th...

The Ninth Circuit held that RCRA's "anti-duplication" provision does not preclude its application to stormwater discharges where EPA has not regulated them under the CWA. Concerned citizens brought a citizen suit against a utility company under RCRA, claiming it allowed harmful chemicals used to tre...