The Court rules that private litigants' attorney fees incurred in bringing a cost recovery action generally are not recoverable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §107. Under the American rule, attorney fees usually are not recoverable absent ex...

On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the court reverses an award of attorney fees for legal services rendered in negotiating a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and litigating this Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act cost recovery action...

The court affirms a district court decision dismissing claims by the purchaser of a contaminated site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) against two shareholders, officers, and directors of the seller, but reverses and remands the district court'...

The court holds that the sale by a manufacturer of a plug-valve sealant containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to a natural gas transmission and distribution company may constitute arranging for the disposal of a hazardous substance under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and ...

The court holds that the federally required commencement date for statute of limitations purposes mandated by §309(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) applies to a married couple's personal injury claims against the husband's employer, which alle...

The court holds that a town's harbor usage fee system that charges nonresident boat owners a higher usage fee than resident boat owners does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because it is rationally related to the legitimate government purp...

The court holds that under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Safe Drinking Water Act regulation listed at 40 C.F.R. §144.37(d), a Florida agency acted properly when it based its determination of whether to extend an expired state construction and testing permit for an exploratory t...

The court orders past and present owners of dry cleaning stores to participate in the investigation, monitoring, and testing of hazardous substance contamination at a California shopping center. In a prior opinion, the court had held the defendants liable under the Resource Conservation and Recovery...

The court dismisses claims by timber companies that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated §7(a) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by FWS' late issuance of, and BLM's reliance on, biological opinions on the impact of certain timber sales addressi...

The court affirms a district court decision dismissing claims that holders of pipeline easements burdening contaminated property qualify as "owners" or "operators" under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The court first holds that an easement holder ...