The Ninth Circuit held that in allocating liability to a nonsettling defendant in a CERCLA contribution action, a district court has discretion to determine the most equitable method of accounting for settlements between private parties. Agreeing with the First Circuit and declining to follow the re...

The Fourth Circuit held that a public utility that sold used PCB-containing electrical transformers in the 1980s to a company for reconditioning and resale should not be held liable under CERCLA as an arranger. EPA added the site to the NPL in the mid-2000s, and the current owners of the site bore m...

A district court held that coal companies have standing in their CAA lawsuit against EPA for failing to evaluate the potential for job losses stemming from the Agency's CAA regulation and enforcement efforts. The coal companies alleged that EPA's actions have had a coercive effect on the power gener...

The Sixth Circuit denied a cement company's petition to vacate an EPA rule requiring it to add more stringent air pollution controls at one of its portland-cement plants. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment had previously deemed the plant's pollution controls sufficient and ...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that mere knowledge of continuing spills and leaks is insufficient grounds for holding a company liable as an arranger under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Under the plain language of CERCLA §107(a)(3), an entity may q...

An Arizona court overturned the state's issuance of an air permit for a proposed open-pit copper mine. An environmental group argued that the state's approval of the permit was arbitrary and capricious because the mine has the potential to violate NAAQS. They also claimed that the mine's modeling re...

The Ninth Circuit denied an environmental group's petition challenging EPA's approval of a revision to California's SIP. The revision provided alternative "not less stringent" controls to what is required in CAA §185's antibacksliding measures, which require that major stationary sources of polluti...