The court affirms a district court's grant of summary judgment against a nurse who claimed that occupational exposure to a manufacturer's cold sterilizing solution caused her respiratory injuries. The district court held that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempted ...

The court holds that the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's (OSM's) issuance of a Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) §521 cessation order to a coal mining company was not an uncompensated taking of private property in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. ...

The court permanently enjoins a lumber company from implementing a plan to harvest timber on its land in the Owl Creek forest in Humboldt County, California. The court finds that the land is occupied by the marbled murrelet, a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Plai...

The court holds that a state environmental agency may recover from an electric company all response costs the agency incurred under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and state law to clean up a hazardous waste site in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The cou...

The court holds the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §113(h)'s preenforcement review bar precludes contemporaneous challenges under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), and California enviro...

The court holds that Congress did not unconstitutionally delegate to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) the authority to define "waters of the United States." The Corps has defined the term to include wetlands. Two individuals were convicted of dis...

The court holds that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) did not act arbitrarily in granting a preliminary permit to an energy company for a pumped storage station hydroelectric project under §4(e) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), even though the company's application did not identify th...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service's decision not to use pesticides in certain national forests is not "agency action" within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The court first holds that plaintiff pesticide information organization alleges sufficient facts to est...

The court holds that the owner of a barge from which oil spilled into the Hudson River in New York is entitled to indemnification from the responsible tug and its owner for a $3,500 civil penalty assessed under Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §311(b)(6), but is not entitled to indemnifi...

The court holds that neither §311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) nor a certificate of financial responsibility issued to the United States by a shipowners' insurance association provides the states of New York or New Jersey a cause of action against the association for damages r...