The court holds that unpermitted dredging in a wetland is unlawful. A hunting club and complete residential development are not within the narrow farming and forestry exemptions to the permitting requirements under §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The time period to claim exemptions...

The court approves a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) consent decree providing for soil and groundwater cleanup, water monitoring, and reimbursement of approximately $800,000 in government expenditures for a one million gallon diesel fuel spill in the Monongahela River. The court also gra...

The court denies a motion for rehearing en banc of its previous decision upholding the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) guidelines under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for federal agency purchasing of recycled paper products. RCRA §6002(c)(1)(C) provides that a procuring...

The court holds that the Navy's compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in deciding to establish a homeport on Staten Island for ships that can carry nuclear weapons is not subject to judicial review. The Navy's environmental impact statement on the decision did not discuss nucl...

The court holds that a bank that held a mortgage on contaminated property is not liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) before it foreclosed on the property, but may be liable for CERCLA cleanup costs arising after it purchased the property at...

The court rules that successor corporations are not liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for their predecessor's actions. Although successor liability may be desirable as a matter of policy, Congress specifically limited CERCLA liability to ...

The court imposes a $100,000 civil penalty against Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) defendants who disregarded an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrative order. The defendants operated an electroplating business that generated hazardous wastes. EPA alleged serious violation...

The court holds that developers cannot qualify for a silviculture exemption to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act §404 permitting requirements to dredge or fill a wetland because they cannot show that their conduct was part of an ongoing silviculture operation and because modification of the p...

The Court holds that landowners' Fifth Amendment taking challenge to the National Trials System Act, the "rails-to-trails" statute, is premature and that the statute is a valid exercise of congressional power under the Commerce Clause. Claims for rail-to-trail conversions giving rise to just compens...

The court holds that a 1988 congressional continuing budget resolution bars a site-specific challenge to a Forest Service timber sale that allegedly violates the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to address new information about old growth forest ecosystems. Section 314 of the 1988 contin...