A district court held that EPA overstepped its statutory authority under the CWA and SMCRA when it issued guidance on Appalachian surface coal mining permits. EPA argued that the guidance was not final agency action and, thus, not subject to judicial review. But the court disagreed, holding that the...

The Eighth Circuit held that costs a developer incurred to reduce pollution on a property it owns in Brainerd, Minnesota, that had formerly been owned by a railway company were not removal costs and thus not recoverable under the Minnesota Environmental Response and Liability Act (MERLA). Although n...