The court holds that the unreasonableness, excessiveness, duplicativeness, impropriety, and non-cost-effectiveness of response costs are not defenses to a cost recovery action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) if defendants fail to prove that su...

The court holds that the U.S. government may not recover, as either removal or remedial costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), oversight costs it incurred in monitoring private-party cleanup of hazardous waste at the Taylor Borough site in Pen...

The court holds that federal maritime law preempts a Maryland statute that imposes strict liability for damaging natural oyster bars, as it applies to the grounding and re-floating of a barge in tidewater of the lower Potomac River. The court first holds that the grounding of a vessel is a maritime ...

The court holds that a proposed consent decree requiring potentially responsible parties (PRPs), including individual and small businesses, to repay the government's past response costs according to their ability to pay and granting broad contribution protection is reasonable, fair, and consistent w...

The court holds that a congressional moratorium on spending funds to list species as endangered did not repeal or modify the Secretary of the Interior's obligation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to make a final decision whether to list the California red-legged frog within one year of propos...

The court finds genuine issues of material fact precluding summary judgment on the liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of sellers and consignees of arsenic trioxide and magnesium phosphide shipments that washed overboard or spilled durin...

The court holds that under Kansas law, subsequent tenants and purchasers with knowledge of salt contamination of a creek aquifer may recover damages, because the actionable conduct constitutes a public nuisance and the tenants and purchasers seek only temporary damages. The court holds inapplicable ...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service was not required to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act for its treatment plan to reduce a spruce bark beetle infestation in the Dixie National Forest. The court first holds that the environmental gr...

The court holds that the holder of mineral rights on land within the Missouri National Grasslands area, which is part of the Custer National Forest in North Dakota, may not proceed with mineral development without first obtaining U.S. Forest Service authorization of a surface use plan. The court fir...

The court affirms a district court decision upholding U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) emergency regulations that reduced the fall 1993 ocean harvesting rate for Klamath River Chinook salmon. Faced with the possibility that the Pacific Fishery Management Council's recommended ocean harvest levels w...