Editors' Summary: The primary focus of environmental litigation is on liability issues, and few tax issues have been specifically addressed or dispositively resolved in the environmental law context. This Article explores many tax issues lurking in environmental cases. First, it analyzes the deductibility of environmental litigation costs, including criminal penalties and civil fines, consent decree penalties, natural resources damages, enforcement and oversight costs, and legal fees.

Editors' Summary: NWF v. Lujan, the Supreme Court's landmark decision that amplifies the injury-in-fact standing requirement and the ripeness test determination of whether an agency action is final, reveals more than when an environmental group can go to court. Justice Scalia's opinion indicates a paradigm shift in the view of the proper role of the judiciary from that of securing public law principles to that of prescribing private law constructs derived from Marbury v. Madison. NWF v.

When Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or the Superfund),¹ it "intended that those responsible for problems caused by the disposal of chemical poisons bear the costs and responsibility for remedying the harmful conditions they created."² Unfortunately, the combination of remedial costs, which greatly exceed available funding,³ and CERCLA's imprecise language, which is susceptible to broad interpretation,⁴ have allowed the En

After the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued its recent decision in United States v.

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things."

—Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)¹ regulatory regime contains more than 600 pages of complex regulations governing the management of waste. Economic estimates suggest that the RCRA system requires expenditures of $3-$ 6 billion per year for compliance. Whether these expenditures are obtaining the maximum environmental benefit is unclear.

Editors' Summary: As transboundary and global environmental problems become more acute, international law becomes critical in addressing these problems. This Article examines the difficulties of establishing an effective international environmental system by analyzing several programs, treaties, and institutions. Despite the failings of the system, the author concludes that international environmental law will play an increasingly significant role.

Editors' Summary: Reauthorization of RCRA will be a top priority for the 102nd Congress. Among the key issues will be reforming U.S. hazardous waste export controls and making them consistent with the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal. A bill to achieve these goals, the Waste Export Control Act (WECA), was extensively debated in the 101st Congress and is expected to be reintroduced in the 102nd Congress as part of the RCRA reauthorization package. This Article reviews existing U.S.

Environmental crises make big news. The litany of catastrophes that made it to the top of the network newscasts in the 1970s and 1980s is long: Three Mile Island, Love Canal, Bhopal, Chernoble, the Exxon Valdez, to name a few.¹ Attorneys involved in environmental issues are often confronted with crisis situations—an accidental oil spill, a chemical release, employee misconduct, and so on.

Editors' Summary: The newest federal environmental statute, the Oil Pollution Act, became law in August 1990. The product of 15 years of congressional deliberation, the Act sets out an expansive new liability system for oil spills, as well as requirements for the oil industry and its suppliers, that will affect operations well into the 21st century.

In this Article, the author analyzes the Oil Pollution Act, exploring both the black-letter law of the statute and some of its likely effects.

Editors' Summary: There are an estimated 300,000 leaking underground storage tanks (USTs) in the United States today. These tanks are believed to be a leading cause of groundwater pollution. To address this situation, Congress enacted Subtitle I of the RCRA, Regulation of Underground Storage Tanks. Subtitle I, and the regulations promulgated by EPA, address aspects of UST use from notification of tank existence to performance standards for new tanks to corrective action and tank closure.