The Court holds that Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §106(b)(2), permitting Superfund reimbursement for companies ordered to clean up environmental damage for which they are not liable, does not apply if cleanup was already underway when §106(b)(2) wa...

The court holds that the Federal Water Pollution Control Act's (FWPCA's) liability provision, §311(f), is causation-based, not fault-based, and that the third-party defense of §311(f)(1)(D) requires that an oil spill be unforeseeable. A tugboat pulling an oil barge had struck an unmarked wreck out...

The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a non-discretionary duty under the Clean Air Act to formulate a federal implementation plan (FIP) to control ozone pollution in the Chicago area. Although EPA acknowledges its duty, the court orders EPA to issue the FIP within 14 mon...

The court holds that a provision of an Alabama law requiring legislative approval prior to the establishment of hazardous waste treatment and disposal facilities is unconstitutional. The provision provides no guidelines for approval of a facility and is impermissibly vague in violation of the Fourte...

The court holds that the Army Corps of Engineers did not violate the Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA) or the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in refusing to require permits for construction of a proposed aquarium and riverfront park. The court first holds that neither the Administrative Procedu...

The court rules that the scope of the Interior Department's "Type A" regulations for assessing natural resource damages under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §107 and Federal Water Pollution Control Act §311(f) reasonably implement congressional inten...

On remand from the Supreme Court, the court holds that aboriginal subsistence rights of Alaskan natives in the outer continental shelf (OCS) were not extinguished by the provisions of the Alaskan Natives Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). The tribal villages of Gambell and Stebbins sought to enjoin the ...

The court holds that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was not required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) after the discovery of new information regarding the presence of nesting northern spotted owls in an old growth tim...

The court holds that the government contractor defense does not immunize the Department of Energy and its contract-operator of a nuclear weapons plant from tort liability, because they violated applicable environmental laws. The court first holds that operating the plant is an abnormally dangerous a...

The court affirms a district court decision holding that the 60-day time limit in §526(a) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act for challenges to the Department of the Interior's approval or disapproval of state enforcement programs is jurisdictional.
[The district court decision is pu...