The court holds that a district court did not have jurisdiction to review a dispute about language in a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consent decree approving a proposed cleanup plan. The plan was proposed by a company that abandoned an acrosol can facility following an explosion and a ...

The court denies a petition to review the Bonneville Power Administration's (BPA's) record of decision (ROD) regarding the operations of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS). The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) concluded that under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), continued oper...

The court holds that a state's failure to seek rehearing of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) order on remand in a case involving a hydroelectric power license application deprives the court of jurisdiction. After denying the state's initial motions for rehearing, FERC filed an uno...

The court holds that punitive criminal fines imposed against a bankrupt laboratory for post-bankruptcy petition conduct that violated the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act are not administrative expenses that receive priority status under the Bankruptcy Code. The court first holds that noncomp...

The court upholds some provisions and strikes down other provisions of an Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) interim final rule that required a surface mining permit applicant to disclose all environmental violations it incurred at its mining operations. The court first holds...

The court holds that the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT's) approval of a 12-lane bridge to replace an existing 6-lane bridge in Alexandria, Virginia, violated the Clean Air Act (CAA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Depar...

The court holds that a prevailing logging company was not entitled to attorney fees in a lawsuit brought by an environmental group under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The court first holds that it will only allow attorney fees to a prevailing defendant if the plaintiff's action was frivolous. Th...

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...

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...

The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Acid Deposition Standard Feasibility Study Report to Congress complied with the Clean Air Act's (CAA's) mandate that it include a description of the nature and numerical value of deposition standards that would be sufficient to ...