The Ninth Circuit held that a U.S. Forest Service decision that a proposed mining operation may proceed based on the miner's notice of intent (NOI) does not constitute an "agency action" for purposes of triggering the ESA's interagency consultation obligations. The case involves the Forest Serv...
The Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court's fee award in favor of environmental groups in their CAA case against an energy company. Below, the groups moved for summary judgment on the basis that the company was violating the CAA by constructing a new major source of hazardous air pollution without f...
The D.C. Circuit denied a petition for review challenging EPA's decision granting California a waiver from federal preemption under the CAA that allows the state to implement its own regulations requiring automobile manufacturers to reduce fleet-average greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicl...
A district court denied two aviation associations' motions to intervene in a case asking the court to order EPA to use its authority under the CAA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from marine vessels, aircraft, and other nonroad vehicles. The aviation associations filed the instant motions to in...
A district court dismissed property owners' CERCLA, RCRA, and CWA claims against the current owner of a contaminated site for damages caused by the migration of contamination onto their property. Each of the three federal statutes requires plaintiffs to provide the owner with particular notice of th...
A district court held that the United States' action to collect an EPA civil monetary penalty imposed against an oil refining company under RCRA and the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act (FDCPA) is not time barred. The parties agreed that the five-year limitations period under 28 U.S.C. §...
The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a citizen group's lawsuit seeking to compel BLM to prohibit off-road vehicle use in Oregon's Little Canyon Mountain area. BLM did not make a finding that the off-road vehicle use complained of by the group had caused "considerable adverse effects" that would...
A Michigan appellate court upheld the state environmental agency's concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) rule. The challenged rule falls within the scope of the agency's statutory rulemaking authority, is rationally related to the agency's statutory mandate to protect Michigan's waters from p...
Since the passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1976, EPA has struggled with implementation of the law, and with intermittent initiatives has explored, proposed, and attempted solutions to key chemicals management challenges. The successes or failures of TSCA (or any environmental policy for that matter) are not simply an issue of statutory language. Passage of legislation, even well-written and well-intended, is only the first step in successful implementation of a policy.
Proponents of the precautionary principle argue that it should be rigorously applied to ensure the safety of human activities that potentially impact public health or welfare before those activities commence.