The court holds that although a subpoena duces tecum issued by a manufacturer against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to produce certain discovery documents in a lawsuit in which it was not a party is barred by sovereign immunity, the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) waives that imm...

The court affirms a district court order lifting a temporary restraining order and denying environmental groups' motion to permanently enjoin the construction of a new school on property that allegedly contains potential habitat for the endangered cactus ferruginous pygmy owl. The court first holds ...

The court holds that under the Clean Air Act (CAA), federal entities cannot remove to federal court state and local government actions to enforce air quality laws. A California air quality management district brought a suit against the United States in state court seeking civil penalties for a U.S. ...

The court holds that property owners and residents failed to satisfy Endangered Species Act (ESA) §11 notice requirements in their suit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) concerning an emergency housing project's alleged taking of endangered and threatened turtle species, but th...

The court holds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) use of the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) to measure compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) treatment standard for spent potliner is arbitrary and capricious. Spent potliner is a byp...

The court vacates two Court of International Trade orders that were issued after an environmental group withdrew its motion to enforce the Court of International Trade's ruling pertaining to the enforcement of turtle excluder device regulations under §609 of the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Justic...

The court holds that the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) applies to a mining claim contest proceeding concerning the validity of miners' mining and milling site claims in the Payette National Forest. The court first holds that the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §554, governs the mining c...

The court dismisses strict liability, nuisance, trespass, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) claims filed against the former sublessee of contaminated property where an underground storage tank (UST) leaked. The former sublessee operated a gasoline station at the site, which was next ...

The court remands a municipality's request for litigation costs relating to its successful challenge of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Air Act (CAA) rule establishing new source performance standards for the combustion of municipal solid waste. The court first holds that the muni...

The First Circuit upheld a lower court decision dismissing a biomedical waste disposal company's §1983 claims against the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board for rejecting its proposed plans for dealing with accumulated waste. The complaint states no plausible claim against any identifiable def...