The court holds that an environmental group is not entitled to emergency injunctive relief to restrain the shooting of bison outside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park pending completion of an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The court...

In a bench ruling, the court holds that a bank is not liable for cleanup costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act at a Massachusetts Superfund site. The court holds that the bank, which granted loans to the site owner secured by mortgages and 90 percent g...

The court, after reviewing the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS') determination not to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act before setting pollock fishing limits and considering their consequent impacts on Steller sea lions, a threatene...

The court rules that the Clean Air Act (CAA) does not preempt state common-law tort claims against a stationary source of air pollution. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants owned, controlled, and operated a large, multi-tank storage facility for gasoline, petroleum, and other fuel products. Plaintiff...

The court holds that attorneys fees are recoverable as a response cost in a private suit under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §107(a)(4)(B). The court first holds that CERCLA §310, the citizen suit section, which authorizes courts to award litiga...

The court holds that the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, is liable for 9,870 violations of the secondary treatment requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) at its Honouliuli wastewater treatment plant between July 1, 1988, and December 31, 1992, and orders the city to pay $718,000 i...

The court vacates a bankruptcy court's disallowance of a land developer's claim for future response costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) against the estate of parent and subsidiary companies in Chapter 7 liquidation. The developer purchased l...

The court upholds a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrative order imposing a $17,000 civil penalty on a company that operated wells in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and its regulations. After the company failed to respond to three notices to stop violating the SDW...

The court holds that a one-acre wetland that does not border a stream or adjoin a large wetland, which has no surface or groundwater connection and whose only source of moisture is rainfall, and which is only wet part of the year, is not a "water of the United States" subject to the U.S. Environment...

The court holds that a California irrigation district's network of canals does not constitute a "public water system" under §1431(a) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), and vacates an emergency order issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under §1431(a) that required the distr...