The court refuses to approve a consent decree in a citizen suit under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) that provides for payments to three private conservation organizations. The court holds that FWPCA civil penalties do not have to be paid to the U.S. Treasury. Congress expressly pro...

In an opinion designated as not for publication, the court holds that the Corps of Engineers' issuance of a permit under §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for construction of a resource recovery plant in Ridgefield, New Jersey, was not arbitrary and capricious. Construction of the fac...

The court holds that the federal government may be liable as an "owner or operator" under §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for the release of hazardous substances at a private rayon manufacturing facility due to the federal government's comp...

The court rules that a comprehensive general liability insurance policy covers unexpected and unintended pollution damage that occurs over a substantial period of time, notwithstanding the policy's pollution exclusion clause, which permits coverage only for "sudden and accidental" damage. Property o...

The court holds that although the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) decision to relist six wastes generated from metal smelting operations as hazardous was within its authority under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), EPA did not adequately explain its decision. The court fir...

The court holds that a company, which imported five cargoes of petroleum products from Mexico and classified the cargoes as gasoline, did not violate the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) gasoline specification standards promulgated under the Clean Air Act. After the company reported the car...

The court holds that third-party defendants in a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act contribution action are not liable because the sale of a useful product, even if it contains hazardous substances, does not constitute "arranging for disposal" under §107(a)(3). Th...

Following the precedent established by another panel, the court holds that emissions produced by an insured as byproducts of its production of curene 442 are not "sudden and accidental" under an insurance policy's pollution exclusion clause. The insurer thus has no duty to defend the insured.
Couns...

The court rules that the Secretary of Transportation properly determined under §4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act that alternatives to widening a North Carolina highway through a historic neighborhood were not prudent. The court first rules that the Secretary properly determined that non...

The court holds that the doctrines of primary jurisdiction and ripeness bar a landowner's action challenging the Army Corps of Engineers' determination that the landowner's property is a "wetland" or "water of the United States" under §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA). The Cor...