The court holds that, under Michigan law, two counties individually are not proper permittees under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act's national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES), and that joint permits should be issued to the counties and the municipalities to which the permit ap...

The court upholds the conviction and six-month prison sentence of an environmental engineer who knowingly filled wetlands without the required Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §404 permit. The court first holds that the 1989 Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional W...

The court enjoins a California county irrigation district from pumping activities that kill or harm the Sacramento River winter-run salmon, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as a taking in violation of ESA §9. The California Fish and Game Commission ordered the irrigation...

The court holds that the federal government's recommendation of certain sentencing guidelines violates a specific plea agreement and constitutes a plain error, and that criminal sentence enhancement is appropriate where repetitive discharges have occurred. In exchange for the government's promise to...

In a precedential decision involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) enforcement of its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste program, the court holds that the invalidation of the RCRA mixture rule in December 1991 by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for t...

The court holds that a consent decree settling U.S. claims under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §107(a), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) §7003, and the Federal Priority Statute, against potentially responsible parties (PRPs) for environ...

The court holds that to obtain a conviction under §3008(d)(2)(A) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for illegally storing and disposing of hazardous waste without a permit, the government need not prove that the defendants knew that a permit was required or that their company did ...

The court holds that the district court properly entered a consent decree between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Missouri, and a sewer district resolving an enforcement action under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), but vacates the district court's orders dismissing t...

The court enjoins the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) from transferring deobligated grant funds under Title II of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) to Michigan's water pollution control revolving fund, until the city of...

The court holds that the United States and California must defend counterclaims seeking contribution and indemnification for natural resource damages and response costs pursuant to §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for polychlorinated bipheny...