The court holds that when the state of New Jersey acts in its sovereign capacity to invoke the jurisdiction of a federal court to assert state-law claims against a waste hauler and its customers, it waives its Eleventh Amendment immunity with respect to contribution claims by third-party plaintiffs ...
The court holds ripe for adjudication an oil company's action for a declaratory judgment that the estate of its predecessor's deceased owner is liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) to the extent of the oil company's liability, for a hazardou...
The court holds time barred a trespass action that an estate's representative brought against several companies for nonremoval of chemicals that they allegedly dumped on the decedent's land. The court first holds that the district court did not err in denying plaintiff's motion to remand the case to...
The court refuses to issue a writ of mandamus overturning a district court refusal to order the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not to initiate enforcement action against hazardous waste generators for shipping material to petitioner hazardous waste treatment company, which lacks a Resour...
The court holds that salvage timber sales that had not yet been advertised were "in preparation" under the Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Assistance and Rescissions Act's (Rescissions Act's) waiver of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements. Environmental groups challenged th...
The court holds that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) does not require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to consider the master plan for an airport's expansion in an environmental assessment (EA) of the upgrade of one runway. The court first holds that the issue is not moot, even...
The court holds that the owners of a contaminated site may not recover damages for negligence, gross negligence, or strict liability from an oil company that previously owned the site and used it to dispose of oil-field waste. The court first holds that Texas' two-year statute of limitations for pro...
The court rescinds a contract under which a metal refining company sold a contaminated site in Queens, New York, to the U.S. Postal Service. Applying New York law, the court first holds that breach of contract can be grounds for rescission. The company breached its contract with the Postal Service b...
The court denies a private-property owner injunctive relief on its claim that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and EPA employees violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when an EPA emergency response team entered onto the property without a warrant and removed water and ...
The court holds that federal and state transportation agencies did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when they failed to perform a supplemental environmental assessment (EA) after modifying the original design of a proposed freeway interchange. The court first holds that condu...