The court rules that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regulations implementing the noncompliance penalties provision of the Clean Air Act are valid as applied to regulated utilities. Section 120(d)(2) of the Act authorizes EPA to sanction noncomplying stationary sources by assessing pen...

The Court holds that §304(d) of the Clean Air Act authorizes attorney fees for time spent by counsel in administrative proceedings, but the lodestar value should not ordinarily be adjusted to reflect superior performance. Plaintiffs in this case were involved in protracted litigation over Pennsylva...

The court holds that the Eleventh Amendment bars a defendant in a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) cost recovery action from filing a third-party claim in federal court against Pennsylvania alleging that the state is responsible for the hazardous waste r...

The court holds that it does not have subject matter jurisdiction to hear plaintiff's challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) request for information pursuant to §114 of the Clean Air Act and notification of a possible violation of §112. The court first holds that it does not ha...

The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) duty under Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §309(a)(3) to initiate enforcement proceedings against placer miners in violation of national pollutant discharge elimination system permits is discretionary. The court first ru...

The court holds that §3006 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), authorizing states to operate hazardous waste programs in lieu of the federal program, does not preclude the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from exercising its power under RCRA §3013 to order monitoring and tes...

The court rules that a notice of violation of the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act issued by the Department of Environmental Resources is not an appealable final agency action or adjudication. The notice is not an appealable action since, by itself, it does not affect the recipient's rights. ...

The court holds that the deposit of microscopic airborne particles of arsenic and cadmium from a copper smelter is neither a trespass nor a nuisance. On motion for summary judgment, the court first holds that property owners cannot recover damages for trespass because no actual damages were shown. T...

The court holds that an environmental group that entered into a settlement agreement is entitled to attorney fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). Under the terms of the agreement, the group achieved most of its objectives in its callenge to the Forest Service's grant of an ea...

The court holds that petitioner's challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) approval of Nebraska's underground injection control program (UIC) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is untimely and that EPA's approval of Nebraska's request to exempt an aquifer from the UIC program...