The court holds that the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (HMTA) does not preempt state bonding requirements for hazardous waste carriers. A waste industry trade group challenged a Massachusetts regulation requiring the posting of a $10,000 bond for hazardous waste transportation within the st...

The court upholds a U.S. Forest Service salvage timber sale in the South Fork Salmon River drainage of the Boise and Payette National Forests. The Forest Service proposed the sale under §2001 of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Rescissions Act after a severe wildfir...

The court holds that federal wetland easements that the United States acquired through its Waterfowl Production Area program apply only to the amount of acreage specified in the easement summaries that accompany the easement conveyance instruments. The United States purchased wetland easements on 1,...

The court upholds the Interstate Commerce Commission's (ICC's) approval of a rails-to-trails agreement between a railroad company and a municipality. The ICC had granted the railroad a certificate of interim trail use (CITU), which stayed the railroad's certificate of abandonment for 180 days while ...

The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated a mandatory duty under Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §303 by failing promptly to prepare and publish a proposed water quality standard for Pennsylvania. EPA found that Pennsylvania's antidegradation policy fa...

The court holds that companies that sent spent batteries to a battery recycling facility are liable under §107(a)(3) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for cleanup costs incurred at the site. The court first rejects defendants' argument that they c...

The court holds that a U.S. Forest Service decision to conduct timber sales on lands in the Upper North Umpqua River Basin in southwestern Oregon that are subject to President Clinton's Northwest Forest Plan (Option 9) was not arbitrary and capricious under §2001(d) of the 1995 Rescissions Act. The...

The court holds that state action against an owner of a sewage treatment facility for violating its national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit does not bar a neighboring landowner's Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen suit against the owner. Because the state and ...

The court holds that the passive migration of contamination that allegedly occurred while a party owned a contaminated site is not "disposal" under §107(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The court first notes that in the context of the definit...

The court holds that timber and outdoor recreation interests have standing to challenge the U.S. Forest Service's choice of a plan to harvest timber in the Upper Yaak River drainage region of the Kootenai National Forest in Montana. Plaintiffs, who seek the implementation of an alternate plan with h...