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Pursuing Sustainable Solid Waste Management

This Article discusses the original goals of Agenda 21¹ related to achieving "environmentally sound" solid waste management and reviews U.S. activities and policies with regard to solid waste over the last decade. Of greatest interest to the public and the media has been municipal solid waste (MSW)—ordinary household, commercial and institutional garbage or trash. Overall, the record of the United States in achieving sustainable solid waste management, including steady state or decreasing levels of waste generation and disposal, is mixed.

The Salvage Timber Sales Law: A Serious Threat to Public Lands Management

Despite the recent furor over the environmental damage threatened by the Republican-dominated 104th Congress, the so-called salvage logging bill—a rider on a budget-rescissions bill—so far is one of the few changes to environmental protection programs actually signed into law. One should not assume, however, that the logging rider's ability to survive a presidential veto means that it is an innocuous compromise.

Environmental Defense Fund v. Alexander

The court refuses to enjoin continued construction of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and rules that plaintiffs are barred by res judicata and collateral estoppel from challenging defendants for alleged violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Fish and Wildlife Coordination A...

El Pueblo Para el Aire y Agua Limpio v. Kings, County of

The court rules that the final environmental impact report that resulted in issuance of a conditional use permit for the construction and operation of a hazardous waste incinerator at the Kettleman Hills site in Kings County, California, was inadequate as an informational document under the Californ...

Fund for Animals v. Espy

The court holds that a nonprofit organization has standing to seek a preliminary injunction to prevent the implementation of a research study by the Department of Agriculture (DOA) on the transmission of brucellosis from wild bison in Yellowstone National Park to cattle outside the park without DOA ...

Chemical Leaman Tank Lines, Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co.

The court holds that a tank truck company is not entitled to summary judgment on claims against its insurers for indemnification of costs resulting from a government action against it under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) with respect to soil and gr...

CPC Int'l, Inc. v. Aerojet-General Corp.

Applying Michigan law to an insurance dispute, the court adopts the doctrines of known-risk and loss-in-progress, and denies coverage because the insured's environmental director knew or reasonably should have known of a substantial probability of a loss caused by groundwater contamination at the si...

New York, City of v. Mineta

The court holds that the Secretary of Transportation did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR21) in granting take-off and landing slots to airlines servicing New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia Airpo...

Greater Yellowstone Coalition v. Bosworth

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Rescissions Act by reissuing a permit for livestock grazing in the Gallatin National Forest without first conducting a NEPA review. In 1994, the Forest Service implemented a po...

Hodges v. Abraham

The court holds that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in connection with its transfer of surplus plutonium from Colorado to South Carolina. DOE argued that the governor of South Carolina, who filed suit against DOE, lacked standing becaus...