The court holds that the petroleum exclusion in §101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) does not apply to defendant's tank bottom sludge, which is a contaminated waste product, not a petroleum fraction, under CERCLA. A defendant in this CERCLA ...

The court holds that the Army Corps of Engineers did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), or the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in issuing an FWPCA §404 permit for construction of a dam and reservoir. The court holds t...

The court rules that a county ordinance that bans infectious medical wastes generated outside of the county violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Citing the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 8 ELR 20540, the court holds that the ordinance is uncons...

The court rules that a settlement between the defendant in a properly commenced Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen suit and state officials is grounds for dismissing the citizen suit if the settlement has caused the violations to cease and eliminated any reasonable likelihood of rec...

The court holds that §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) does not waive the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) sovereign immunity from contribution claims by responsible parties, based on EPA's regulatory activities at a Superfund site. ...

The court rules that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) interpretation of "release" in its rule regulating the reporting requirement for releases of radionuclides is contrary to the express language of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and...

The court holds that the owners of a Connecticut trailer park are not liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), or state law to a park resident for damages resulting from the release of chromium...

The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) adoption of permitting regulations for closed land disposal facilities and groundwater monitoring and cleanup standards for disposal sites located above aquifers was within its authority under the Resource Conservation and Recovery A...

The court denies an environmental group's petition for rehearing of a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) claim against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) based on the recent listing of the northern spotted owl as an endangered species. The court holds that the endangered species designation d...

The court holds that the South Carolina Beachfront Management Act does not violate the Takings and Due Process Clauses of the U.S. Constitution. In separate actions consolidated on appeal, the owners of developed and undeveloped beachfront property challenged provisions of the Act prohibiting the re...