A California appellate court upheld a lower court decision preliminarily enjoining a county from enforcing a voter-approved ballot measure banning the use of agricultural fertilizer made from recycled municipal sewage sludge in unincorporated areas of the county. The application of this fertilizer, ...

The D.C. Circuit held that NRC's transfer of authority to New Jersey over nuclear materials within the state was arbitrary and capricious. The NRC may transfer regulatory authority over classes of nuclear materials located within a state to the government of that state. But here, the agency failed t...

The Fourth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, affirmed a lower court decision dismissing an electronic manufacturer's CERCLA claim against the United States for costs it incurred cleaning up tricholoroethylene (TCE) contamination on a parcel of property in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The manufact...

The Eleventh Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, held that recycled carpet waste, known as carpet selvedge, is a "recovered material" that has the potential for reuse and not a solid waste under RCRA or Georgia law. Accordingly, a carpet manufacturer that sent carpet selvedge to a site for recycling...

The Ninth Circuit upheld DOT's decision ordering a hazardous waste motor carrier to cease operations following an unsatisfactory safety rating. The carrier argued that the unsatisfactory safety rating on which the cessation order was based was premised on the misapplication of certain safety regulat...

The Louisiana Supreme Court held that a school district may seek remediation damages in excess of those required by state law from oil companies who engaged in oil exploration and production operations on school land. The district sought two types of damages: damages required under state law pursuan...

The Court of Federal Claims held that the U.S. government need not reimburse oil companies for costs they incurred cleaning up contamination stemming from the production of aviation fuel during World War II. During the 1940s, at the urging of the U.S. government, the companies entered into contracts...

The Federal Circuit reversed and remanded a lower court decision dismissing an insurance company's reimbursement action under the National Defense Authorization Act for cleanup costs associated with the development of property formerly used as a military base. The lower court determined that the com...

The Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision dismissing an environmental group's CWA, CERCLA, and EPCRA claims against BP and Transocean Ltd. following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. BP leased the mobile offshore drilling unit known as Deepwater Horizon from Transo...

A district court held that a mining company that operates a smelter in Canada is liable as an arranger under CERCLA for the release and threatened release of hazardous substances in the Upper Columbia River. The company stipulated that it discharged slag and effluent into the Columbia River from its...