The court holds that plaintiff's action asking the court to invalidate a statutory lien placed on its property under §107(l) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is an action for preenforcement review and thus is barred by CERCLA §113(h). The Enviro...
The court holds that challenges to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Corps of Engineers on mitigation requirements under Federal Water Pollution Control Act §404(b)(1) guidelines are not ripe for review. Plaintiffs allege that the MOA's requir...
The court holds that the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Reclamation are liable for 6,333 violations of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) at the Leadville Drainage Tunnel in Lake County, Colorado. The tunnel drains a number of inactive mines and discharges into the Ea...
The court approves a settlement agreement concerning the Office of Surface Mining's (OSM's) enforcement of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The agreement requires OSM to revoke permits issued to entities with outstanding violations and to deny new permits to these entities. Th...
The court rules that a development company failed to meet its burden for obtaining a preliminary injunction to prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from enforcing §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) by means of a Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetla...
The court rules on challenges to Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) regulations governing termination of jurisdiction, inspection of abandoned sites, coal preparation plants, prime farmland, water impoundments, probable hydrologic consequences, and post-mining roads. The court first ...
The court rules on challenges to Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) regulations governing alluvial valley floors, coal exploration, and the period during which a coal mine operator must have a permit. The court first holds that the Secretary of the Interior acted within his authority...
The court vacates the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) regulations at 10 C.F.R. §52.103(b)-(c), which substantially revise the licensing process for the construction and operation of nuclear power plants, as inconsistent with NRC's authority under §185 of the Atomic Energy Act (AEA). The co...
The court holds that §18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and federally promulgated worker training requirements preempt certain Illinois laws providing for the training, testing, and licensing of hazardous waste site workers. Although §18 of the OSH Act does not expressly preem...
The court rejects challenges under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) decision not to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for its corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for model years 1987-1988 and 1989...