The court reverses a district court decision that a property owner could not recover response costs under the Pennsylvania Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act (HSCA) because he failed to establish a release or threat of release of hazardous substances. A town previously used the property as a landfill, and ...

The court affirms in part and reverses in part a district court decision that found the U.S. government and oil companies liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for dumping acid sludge from the production of aviation gas during World War II an...

The court holds that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in connection with its transfer of surplus plutonium from Colorado to South Carolina. DOE argued that the governor of South Carolina, who filed suit against DOE, lacked standing becaus...

The court holds that California's Proposition 4, which bans the use of certain traps and poisons to capture or kill wildlife in the state, is preempted by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Wildlife Refuge Systems Improvement Act (NWRSIA). An environmental group brought suit against t...

The court reverses a district court decision holding that a Washington county tax imposed against a Native American tribe after it transferred forest land to the United States to hold in trust for the tribe was a permissible taxation of land under the Indian General Allotment Act of 1887. Under Wash...

The court affirms a district court judgment finding an Ohio oil tank maintenance company liable for the damages from a fuel leak that occurred after it negligently cut holes in an oil company's storage tank, but the oil company's failure to test the tank prior to filling rendered it contributorily n...

The court holds that farmers' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) action challenging a proposed federal and state plan for managing the California San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Bay-Delta) water resources is ripe for judicial review before any site-specific action is taken. The...

The Eighth Circuit reversed a lower court's strict liability judgment and accompanying punitive damages award against a company in connection with the environmental contamination of a site it once owned. Minnesota's strict liability rule for actions brought by subsequent property owners requires an ...

The Tenth Circuit affirmed a district court decision that Utah's statutes regulating the storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel are preempted by federal law. Contrary to the state's arguments, the plaintiffs who challenge the statutes—a consortium of utility companies and a Native Americ...

The Ninth Circuit held that the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) environmental assessments (EAs) for two timbers sales in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The EAs do not sufficiently identify or discuss the incremental impact that can be expec...