A district court held that costs related to the construction of a seawall for erosion control are not response costs under CERCLA. The case involves two property owners who filed suit against one another regarding the maintenance of a creek running between their properties. One of the owners claimed...

A district court denied a rifle club's motion to dismiss an individual's claims against it for discharging pollutants into wetlands and waterways without a NPDES permit and disposing of and storing hazardous lead waste without a RCRA permit. The club argued that the wetlands and other waters on thei...

The Fourth Circuit dismissed a petition for review challenging Maryland's denial of a water quality certification request under CWA §401(a)(1) for a proposed large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) marine import terminal and pipeline project. Petitioners argued that Maryland waived its right to gra...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision denying environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin three logging projects in the Plumas National Forest in California. The U.S. Forest Service issued the contracts in its attempt to fund fire prevention activities. Among other claims, the g...

The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a hazardous waste site operator's lawsuit challenging EPA's administration of unilateral administrative orders (UAOs) under CERCLA. The operator, which characterized UAOs as "emergency orders," alleged that EPA "routinely" issues emergency orders "where no c...

A district court denied a coal company's motion to dismiss environmental groups' CWA and SMCRA citizen suit action against it for unlawfully discharging pollutants into U.S. waters. The company argued that because West Virginia has already commenced and is diligently prosecuting an administrative pe...

The Fourth Circuit dismissed a coal-fired power plant's lawsuit against EPA challenging its approval of Virginia's Clean Air Interstate Rule SIP. The power plant's alleged injury flows from Virginia's nonattainment provisions, which are separate emissions standards adopted by the commonwealth's Air ...

A district court upheld the expansion of a phosphate mine in the Caribou National Forest into two new parcels that have not been previously subject to phosphate mining. Environmental groups argued that BLM and the U.S. Forest Service violated several statutes in approving the expansion, including NE...

A district court denied a machinery company's motion for summary judgment on claims that it released hazardous substances at a Superfund site. Between 1985 and 1994, the machinery company held its operations on a portion of property now subject to CERCLA litigations. There, the company machined smal...

A district court dismissed an environmental group's claims against EPA for failing to promulgate and enforce financial responsibility regulations under CERCLA §108(b). Although §108(b) requires EPA to promulgate financial responsibility regulations and incrementally impose such requirement...