The First Circuit affirmed a natural gas company's conviction for storing hazardous waste without a permit in violation of RCRA. The company is precluded from challenging a 2002 EPA rule authorizing Rhode Island's RCRA regulations because it failed to use the proper statutory procedure for j...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that the Federal Highway Administration's (FHwA's) EIS for a new ferry terminal and highway project through a national forest in Alaska violated NEPA. Improving ferry services using existing resources is a reasonable alternative for improving transpo...

A district court held that a lumber company's CERCLA action against the former owner of the company's sawmill and plywood manufacturing plant for reimbursement of past and future cleanup costs associated with the site is not barred by contract. When the lumber company purchased the plant in 1993, th...

The First Circuit held that the U.S. Coast Guard violated NEPA when it issued regulations that preempt state environmental law with respect to tank vessels in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. In promulgating the rule, the Coast Guard used a standard environmental checklist that included prompts correspo...

A district court, on motions for summary judgment, held that a property owner may go forward with its CERCLA claims against a printing company for environmental contamination stemming from the company's operations, but it dismissed the owner's RCRA claims against the company. The printing compa...

A district court held that FWS complied with NEPA when it approved the opening and expansion of sport hunting in 60 National Wildlife Refuges. Between 1997 and 2005, the FWS issued nine final rules creating or expanding recreational hunting opportunities on 60 wildlife refuges. In 2006, a court...

A district court granted the United States' motion to dismiss a Native American tribe's claims against it in connection with the government's remediation of a former uranium mill located on the Navajo Nation Reservation near Tuba City, Arizona. In 1985, the DOE and the tribe entered into a coop...

A district court denied environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin the BLM from authorizing the site clearing and construction of a wind energy facility in Spring Valley, Nevada. The groups are not likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that an EIS was required. The BLM's deci...

A district court modified its equitable allocation of costs under §113 of CERCLA and the New Jersey Spill Act in connection with a site contaminated with TCE and other hazardous substances. The court originally allocated 65% of costs to the plaintiffs, 32% to the defendants, and 3% to the federal g...

A district court held that mining companies violated the selenium effluent limitations set forth in their state-issued NPDES and surface mining permits. The companies had sought permit modifications from the state's environmental agency, and when those requests were denied, the companies appeal...