Editors' Summary: In its 20-year history, the congressionally established wilderness system has seldom seen as much controversy as it has of late. Development pressures are increasing, the controlling agencies are reconsidering their wilderness policies, and Congress is being pressed to make ultimate decisions about the status of undeveloped lands.

October 3, 1983, began another Supreme Court Term, the third since the retirement of Justice Stewart and the addition of Justice O'Connor. This Court has heard few major environmental cases. It has usually denied certiorari in cases requiring interpretation of the complex pollution control statutes, accepting cases primarily where there is a split among the circuits, as in the currently pending case of United States v. Stauffer Chemical Co.¹ When the Court breaks this pattern, as it has with the D.C. Circuit's decision in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v.

Editors' Summary: Section 304 of the Clean Air Act enacted in 1970 was the first provision expressly empowering citizens to act as private attorneys general to enforce a federal statute. Every federal environmental statute enacted since 1970, except FIFRA, has included a citizen suit provision, and each provision has been modeled on §304. In Part I of this three-part series, Mr. Miller discusses the origin and legislative history of citizen suits and explains the similarities and differences among the various provisions. He describes who may and may not bring suit and who may be sued.

Editors' Summary: It has been almost three years since the enactment of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) and the prospects for rapid achievement of the Act's goals are not bright. Implementation of CERCLA has been plagued by lack of information on the scope and incomplete scientific understanding of the mechanisms of hazardous waste pollution.

Editors' Summary: The biotechnology revolution has arrived, bringing the promise of great benefits in medicine, agriculture, and pollution control, but also the potential for serious harm from deliberate releases of new organisms into the environment. Already, federal agencies are assessing the need for regulation. The regulators must grapple with questions about the nature and magnitude of the risks of biotechnology, and about whether existing statutes or comprehensive genetic engineering control law is the best way to protect the environment from the new technologies.

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) recently issued a proposed memorandum, 48 Fed. Reg. 36486 (1983), for federal agencies concerning the implementation of CEQ's "worst case anslysis" regulation, 40 C.F.R. 1502.22, ELR REG. 46023, promulgated under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The regulation provides for a "worst case" analysis in environmental impact statements (EISs) in rare but important circumstances.

Editors' Summary: In Avoyelles Sportsmen's League, Inc. v. Marsh, the Fifth Circuit ruled that bottomland hardwood wetlands cannot be converted into farmland without an FWPCA §404 permit. The court endorsed EPA's broad interpretatin of wetlands and established a deferential standard for review of EPA wetland determinations. The author analyzes these rulingsand the changing role of the courts in the implementation of §404.

Editors' Summary: The first Ruckelshaus EPA Superfund settlement was concluded recently between the federal government and a group of companies that generated hazardous wastes found at the Environmental Conservation and Chemical Co. (Enviro-Chem) disposal site in Zionsville, Indiana. Mr. Bernstein, cochairman of the generators' steering committee in the negotiations, describes how the parties resolved the critical issues of allocating liability among the generators and establishing a practical mechanism for operating the cleanup trust fund that will pay for cleaning up the site.

Editors' Summary: Supreme Court review in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. and congressional reauthorization offer the possibility at last of clarification of the role of the bubble policy in implementing the Clean Air Act. Professor Rhinelander reviews the administrative and judicial histories of the bubble policy, concluding that it should be applied liberally, but that Congress and the D.C. Circuit have left too many obstacles in EPA's path.

Editors' Summary: Recent OSHA and EPA regulations will promote investigation and disclosure of the health hazards posed by toxic substances. The regulations will also provide potential plaintiffs with the information they need to win product liability suits. Mr. Atkeson analyzes recent rules and statutory provisions that may affect product liability exposure. He concludes that although the new laws will encourage suits, the laws ultimately will reduce toxic exposures and promote equitable assessment of victim compensation costs.