A district court held that an insurance company must defend its insured in an underlying case involving minors' exposure to contaminated drinking water stemming from the insured's property. When the insurer refused to defend the insured, the insured filed suit against the insurance company for ...

A district court dismissed a mining industry association's action challenging DOI Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) regulations allocating the burden of proof in five types of administrative proceedings under SMCRA. The association argued that the regulations impermissibly shift the ultimate...

A district court held unconstitutional California legislation (SB 990) that prescribes cleanup rules that apply only to a former federal nuclear research and rocket testing facility and criminalizes any sale or disposition of the property until it is cleaned up in accordance with the standards ...

A district court held that mining interests may go forward with their CWA, APA, and SMCRA claims against EPA in connection with memoranda and guidance documents concerning permitting processes for coal mining. The documents meet the criteria of final agency actions. The government's view of ...

A district court ordered EPA to promulgate emission standards for area source boilers, major source boilers, and commercial and institutional solid waste incineration units by February 21, 2011. In March 2006, the court ordered EPA to fulfill its statutory duties regarding the promulgation o...

A district court held that a property owner that filed a RCRA, CAA, and CWA citizen suit against a mine may not intervene in the United States' and Missouri's enforcement action against the same mine for the same violations. Because the owner was concerned that several issues in its pending lawsuit ...

The Third Circuit held that a property owner's nuisance, negligence, and strict liability claims against a neighboring landfill are not continuing torts and, thus, are barred by the statute of limitations. In 1991, the owner's predecessor in interest was denied leave to intervene in a cost recovery ...

A district court denied a triglyceride diesel fuel manufacturer's motion to preliminarily enjoin the American Society for Testing and Materials' (ATSM's) promulgation of a proposed new standard and guidelines for biofuels that would limit, if not bar, the use of triglyceride diesel fuel and rel...

A district court vacated new safety requirements the DOI issued for oil and gas operators in the outer continental shelf. The requirements, issued in a notice to lessees, range from submitting certifications to performing additional safety procedures. The requirements were set aside because the gove...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision denying the award of attorney fees to an environmental group in their lawsuit against a town for discharging toxic pollutants into a bay in violation of the CWA. In that case, the court held that the town must apply for an NPDES permit for its harbor...