The court holds that the U.S. Department of Commerce's (DOC's) temporary closure of the Weathervane Scallop fishery along the Alaskan coast did not violate the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The court first grants the government's motion to strike affidavits Washington State-based...

The court holds that environmental groups' challenge to the 1986 Final Land and Resource Management Plan (Plan) for the Cherokee National Forest is not ripe until the government proposes a site-specific action. The groups alleged that the Plan violated the National Forest Management Act and the regu...

The court holds that the sole general partner of a partnership owning contaminated property in the District of Columbia may not recover past site-investigation costs from the United States or the District of Columbia under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CE...

The court holds that the Flood Control Act (FCA) bars Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) claims against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) to recover costs plaintiffs incurred cleaning up petroleum contamination underlying the Corps' McNary Levees System of the McNary Lock and Dam Project on t...

The court holds that a party may assert a claim for future response costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) even though it unsuccessfully asserted a claim for past response costs. The court first modifies a prior order to reflect that the defend...

The court holds that potentially responsible parties (PRPs) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) may not bring a §107(a) cost recovery action. The court first holds that CERCLA limits PRPs to actions for contribution under §113. All courts of app...

The court holds that the Secretaries of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior have sole discretion to determine the scope of impact evaluations for salvage timber sales under §2001(c) of the Rescissions Act of 1995 (Act) and that the Secretary of the USDA's decisio...

The court holds that a county's compliance with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wetlands remediation order brought the county into compliance with the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) and bars an environmental groups' citizen suit for injunctive relief. The groups alleged tha...

The court holds that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (the Corps') denial of an after-the-fact nationwide permit (NWP) application under §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act was not arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §706(2...

The court holds that subchapter IX of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) does not bar a citizen suit against a gasoline service station operator seeking monetary and equitable relief for the cleanup of petroleum-contaminated soil and groundwater under RCRA §7002(a). The court reexami...