The court rules that §113(j) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), added by the 1986 amendments to limit judicial review of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) response actions to the administrative record under the arbitrary and capricious standard,...

The court holds that an electric utility's challenge to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC's) modifications of its state-issued national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit for the utility's power plant is not moot even though DEC has withdrawn the modific...

The court holds that plaintiffs in Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §505 citizen suits may seek injunctive and civil penalties if a defendant is in violation on or after the date the complaint is filed. The court, referring to the Supreme Court's decision in Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. ...

The court holds that it lacks jurisdiction to review the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) preliminary partial disapproval of Maryland's and Virginia's lists of toxic hot-spots under §304(l)of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA). The owner of several Kraft pulp and paper mills c...

The court holds that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service cannot use appropriations for water and sewer facilities at an Indian reservation to fund the cost of dump site cleanups under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The court concludes that the federal defen...

The court generally upholds the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) final rule, promulgated under §4(a)(1)(B) of the Toxic Substances Control Act, requiring manufacturers and processors of the chemical cumene (isopropyl benzene) to test the chemical's health and environmental effects. The cou...

The Court holds that California's minimum flow rate requirements, which allow water to remain in a bypassed section of a stream and unavailable to drive hydroelectric generators, are preempted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) minimum flow rates set under the Federal Power Act (...

The court enjoins implementation of the South Carolina Beachfront Management Act's prohibitions on constructing new buildings on vacant lots adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. The court previously held that the Act constitutes a taking of plaintiff's property. However, the court holds that the Eleventh...

The court awards a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) plaintiff pre- and post-filing attorney fees, expenses, and prejudgment interest. The court holds that attorney fees are properly recoverable by CERCLA plaintiffs as response costs. The court finds that...

The court holds that an insured manufacturer's intentional and continuous dispersal of pollutants into sewer lines, a sewage treatment facility, and town landfill falls within the pollution exclusion provision of the manufacturer's general liability insurance policy. The manufacturer's activities we...