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 court holds that various federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in their preparations of biological assessments (BAs), biological opinions (BOs), and environmental impact statements (EIS) with respect to the survival of the Son...

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...

A district court held that a bank may go forward with its CERCLA and negligence claims against engineering and remediation companies that prepared and implemented an environmental remediation plan for property in which the bank holds an interest, but it dismissed the bank's strict liability and negl...

A district court held that the owner of a restaurant may seek prospective damages, and possibly punitive damages, against an oil company for damages stemming from a leaking UST at a neighboring gas station. To obtain prospective damages for nuisance or trespass, the owner must prove that the contami...

A district court held that environmental groups and water associations may intervene in a lawsuit challenging EPA's TMDL for the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the TMDL should be vacated because EPA lacked authority under the CWA to issue the TMDL, the ...

A district court held that the FWS violated NEPA, but not the ESA, when it issued a special rule that specifies the protective mechanisms that apply to the polar bear as a result of its threatened status. In May 2008, the FWS listed the polar bear as threatened under the ESA. The Service then issued...

The Tenth Circuit, in a 120-page opinion, reversed a lower court decision setting aside and permanently enjoining the U.S. Forest Service's Roadless Area Conservation Rule. In setting aside the rule, the lower court held that the Service violated the Wilderness Act of 1964 and NEPA. But the Wilderne...

The court affirms the conviction of nonmembers of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe for fishing illegally on an Indian reservation, upholding the constitutionality of a statute requiring nonmembers of the tribe to pay a special license fee set by the tribe.
In 1969, the Leech Lake Band of Chippewa India...