The court rules that the lessor of a site where hazardous substances were released is a potentially liable party under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The court first rules that the plain language of § 107(a) of CERCLA makes the owner of land on w...

The court denies the government en banc consideration of its earlier opinion, 14 ELR 20365, which set limits on the reach of the Army Corps of Engineers' jurisdiction over wetlands under Federal Water Pollution Control Act §404.
Counsel are listed at 14 ELR 20365, 20366.
Before Merritt, Martin, a...

The court remands in part revised regulations promulgated under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The court first notes that SMCRA §526 calls for the court to uphold the regulations unless arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise inconsistent with law. Where, as here, the regulatio...

The court rules that the United States holds federal reserved water rights in favor of national forest wilderness areas. The court rules that the United States holds reserved water rights any time it withdraws lands from the public domain. Although the United States therefore holds reserved rights f...

The court holds that state administrative enforcement bars a citizen suit under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) even though plaintiff had no right to intervene in the state action and the state action was slow to bring about compliance. The court first rules that plaintiff environmen...

The court rules that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inaction in response to the failure of a state to submit total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for waters that will not attain water quality standards after implementation of technology-based effluent limitations may be challenged in a citizen s...

The court rules that §3008(d)(2) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) imposes criminal liability on an employee other than the owner or operator of a firm, if the employee knowingly treats, stores, or disposes of hazardous waste in the absence of a permit required by RCRA §3005. In...

The court rules that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) may not issue an operating license for a nuclear power reactor prior to holding a hearing, if requested, on the results of emergency preparedness exercises. The court first rules that the preparedness exercises are material to NRC's licens...

The court holds that the supplementary environmental impact statement (SEIS) prepared by the Corps of Engineers for the Cooper Lake and Channels project in Texas complies with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (FWCA) and that ...

The court holds that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) arbitrarily failed to use the best scientific evidence available in formulating Marine Mammal Protection Act rules on the incidental killing of porpoises by purse seine tuna fishermen. NOAA's formal rulemaking must be re...