The court holds that the Massachusetts Oil and Hazardous Material Release Prevention Act (OHMRPA) allows recovery for preenactment response costs and that the state may seek recovery under a special act authorizing cleanup at this particular site, but also holds that the defendant is not liable unde...

In a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen enforcement suit, the court holds that plaintiffs may seek civil penalties and novel injunctive relief for past violations of a discharge permit, even though government enforcement agencies have closely monitored defendant's discharges and opt...

The court holds that the Forest Service's southern pine beetle infestation control program for wilderness areas in Texas satisfies National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, but that the Service violated its own guidelines for beetle-control cutting in such areas. The court rules that th...

The court holds that fishermen have no vested third-party beneficiary property rights in commercial fishing in Everglades National Park, that the National Park Service (NPS) was not estopped from enforcing regulations prohibiting commercial fishing, and that the NPS did not act arbitrarily and capri...

The court upholds the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) standards for the disposal of uranium mill tailings at inactive mill sites under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) against challenges from industry and environmental groups, but sets aside a regulation delegating ...

The court upholds the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) uranium mill tailings regulations for active mill sites and denies standing to a party challenging EPA's designation of molybdenum as a hazardous constituent. The court first holds that EPA met Congress' deadline for promulgating the re...

The court rules that the settlement agreement in a government suit, which requires defendant to control and clean up its hazardous waste dumps at the S-Area site in Niagara Falls, New York, fully protects the interests of the Province of Ontario, an intervenor in the suit. The court rejects interven...

The court rules that the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) does not apply to pollution of groundwater that subsequently enters a navigable surface water, that the waiver of sovereign immunity in FWPCA §313 does not apply to actions under state public nuisance statutes, and that Michigan d...

In a Federal Water Pollution Control Act §505 citizen suit to enforce a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit, the court holds that plaintiff has standing, that an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrative enforcement action was not a "court" proceeding within the meanin...

The Court holds that the Army Corps of Engineers' regulations under Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §404 reasonably include wetlands adjacent to other waters within the Corps' permit jurisdiction. The Court first rejects the court of appeals, reasoning that the Corps' jurisdiction must ...