Environmental crises make big news. The litany of catastrophes that made it to the top of the network newscasts in the 1970s and 1980s is long: Three Mile Island, Love Canal, Bhopal, Chernoble, the Exxon Valdez, to name a few.¹ Attorneys involved in environmental issues are often confronted with crisis situations—an accidental oil spill, a chemical release, employee misconduct, and so on.

Editors' Summary: The newest federal environmental statute, the Oil Pollution Act, became law in August 1990. The product of 15 years of congressional deliberation, the Act sets out an expansive new liability system for oil spills, as well as requirements for the oil industry and its suppliers, that will affect operations well into the 21st century.

In this Article, the author analyzes the Oil Pollution Act, exploring both the black-letter law of the statute and some of its likely effects.

Editors' Summary: There are an estimated 300,000 leaking underground storage tanks (USTs) in the United States today. These tanks are believed to be a leading cause of groundwater pollution. To address this situation, Congress enacted Subtitle I of the RCRA, Regulation of Underground Storage Tanks. Subtitle I, and the regulations promulgated by EPA, address aspects of UST use from notification of tank existence to performance standards for new tanks to corrective action and tank closure.

I understand that we could fill our oil needs forever if we would only put some oil wells in Alaska," said a woman when discussing the oil crisis caused by the war in the Middle East. The part of Alaska she was referring to is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).¹ Last year, environmentalists thought they had saved this priceless wilderness from oil development, and the public seemed to have joined them in their battle to save it.

Editors' Summary: The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 finally became law on November 15, 1990. The Amendments, the first major revision of the Clean Air Act since 1977, include titles on nonattainment areas, mobile sources, hazardous air pollutants, acid rain, and stratospheric ozone protection. Two other titles—the permits and enforcement titles—will be vital to the implementation of the revised Clean Air Act. The full potential of the Act cannot be realized without effective enforcement power and an efficient permit program.

Editors' Summary: In an early decision on private-party recovery of attorney fees under CERCLA, T&E Industries v. Safety Light Corp., the court refused to create a right to recovery of attorney fees because Congress had not expressly provided that such a right exists. A distinction then evolved in the case law between enforcement-related and response-related attorney fees, and ultimately the Eighth Circuit held in General Electric Co. v.

Editors' Summary: This Article opens with a brief discussion of RCRA's passage and implementation; it then discusses EPA's rules for determining whether a material is a solid waste and a hazardous waste. The Article then outlines the requirements for generators and transporters of hazardous waste. The standards applicable to facilities that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste (TSDFs), including the specific rules and regulations for the land disposal of hazardous wastes, are also discussed, as are the standards and procedures for obtaining a TSDF permit under Subtitle C.

There are an estimated six million work places¹ and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pollution sources in the United States. It is impossible for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to inspect every pollution source or workplace.

Editors' Summary: The Corps of Engineers has historically had the unenviable task of making water resource project decisions knowing that any decision, for or against development of a project, will be criticized by the interests that lose out. Congress, currently in the process of reauthorizing the FWPCA, is in the throes of deciding whether the Corps' wetlands delineation manual and mitigation policies should be revised. That Congress, and other interested parties, have become so interested in the Corps' growing environmental protection efforts is at the heart of this Article.

Editors' Summary: RCRA is often perceived as establishing a comprehensive regulatory scheme for managing hazardous waste from "cradle to grave." However, when a substance becomes a solid waste subject to RCRA's jurisdiction remains unclear. This Article examines how RCRA defines solid waste and EPA's attempts to clarify that definition. The Article focuses on how this lack of clarity has impacted RCRA's goal of encouraging recycling and recovery of resources from solid waste. The Article analyzes three D.C.