Molinary v. Powell Mountain Coal Co.
The court affirms the dismissal of a land trust's action alleging that a coal company that owned the mineral rights to a tract of the trust's land violated the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) and other federal and state laws. The trust alleged that the company's failure to comply ...
Rith Energy, Inc. v. United States
The court holds that the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's (OSM's) denial of a surface mining permit to a company was not a taking. The company's mining plan would invade the rock strata overlying an aquifer that supplies a local community with drinking water. The court first ho...
Harmon Indus., Inc. v. Browner
The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) practice of overfiling in those states where it has authorized state enforcement of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) oversteps the Agency's authority under the Act. EPA initiated a RCRA enforcement action agains...
American Auto. Mfrs. Ass'n v. Cahill
The court holds that an automobile manufacturers association is entitled to attorney fees in connection with an underlying action in which New York's zero emission vehicle sales requirement for model years 1998-2002 was held preempted under Clean Air Act (CAA) §209. The court first holds that the a...
Association of Int'l Auto. Mfrs., Inc. v. Commissioner
The court grants automakers' motion to stay their challenge to Massachusetts' zero emission vehicle standards pending the automakers' appeal of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In an earlier decision, in which the automakers claim that...
Molycorp, Inc. v. EPA
The court holds that it lacks jurisdiction to review a mining corporation's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) claims arising from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) document addressing whether certain mining processes produced hazardous waste. The document discussed the rare ea...
Greenpeace v. National Marine Fisheries Serv.
The court holds that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to prepare a biological opinion (BO) that properly addressed how the North Pacific fishery management plans (FMPs) for the groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska ...
Jorling v. Department of Energy
The court affirms a district court decision holding that hazardous waste regulatory charges imposed by New York on federal installations operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in New York are reasonable service charges within the meaning of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act §6001(a), ...
United States v. Hill
The court upholds Resource Conservation and Recovery Act civil penalties of $ 4,746,500 against a gas station owner for violating U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrative orders issued after a serious gasoline spill from the station. The court first holds that the civil penalty impo...