A district court held that the former owner of contaminated property may be held liable under tort and the New York Navigation Law for failing to report or prevent the spread of that contamination. There are triable issues of fact as to whether the owner “caused or contributed to the disc...

The Third Circuit upheld regulations issued by the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) implementing an amendment to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan that, among other things, sets a "control date" that effectively terminates the access rights of general scallop fishermen w...

The Fifth Circuit vacated portions of EPA's 2008 concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) rule. The rule requires CAFOs that propose to discharge to apply for an NPDES permit. But there must be an actual discharge into navigable waters to trigger the CWA's requirements. EPA, therefore,...

A district court dismissed a county's RCRA action against the former owner of contaminated property, but held that the former owner was liable to the county under CERCLA. The county purchased the property, a former rifle lens manufacturing plant, from the former owners. The property was then...

The Fourth Circuit reversed a lower court decision that an insurance company was obligated to pay the sums a landfill owner had incurred and was likely to incur in response to an EPA cleanup order. The insurance company issued the landfill owner a standard comprehensive general liability ins...

A California court ordered the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to set aside its "functional equivalent document" that evaluates the environmental consequences of its climate change scoping plan and to enjoin implementation of the scoping plan until the agency complies with its obligati...

The D.C. Circuit upheld the Surface Transportation Board's imposition of environmental mitigation conditions in its approval of a "minor" railroad merger. The case involved the acquisition of a small "non-Class I" railroad by a larger "Class I" railroad company. Because the acquisition invol...

The Fifth Circuit held that the Superfund Recycling Equity Act (SREA)—an amendment to CERCLA that exempts certain recyclers from liability for cleanup costs under CERCLA and awards costs and fees to any recyclers improperly sued for contribution under CERCLA—does not apply to state-law actions. ...

A district court held that the United States is an arranger and operator under CERCLA with regard to the waste disposal sites at four phosphate mines in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. The United States conditioned its approval of mine plans on requiring the lessees to perform specific reclamat...

The Ninth Circuit held that the holder of a revocable permit to use real property is not an "owner" of that real property for purposes of imposing liability under CERCLA for the cleanup of hazardous substances disposed on that property by others. Under California common law, the holder of a revocabl...