The court holds that the Corps of Engineers properly considered the mitigating effect of permit conditions in issuing a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for oyster shell dredging in Louisiana. The court first rules on three procedural motion...

In a suit brought under Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §509(b) challenging National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Alaskan gold placer miners, the court holds that EPA erred by failing to require an effluent...

The court holds that a former owner of a hazardous waste facility may be liable for federal cleanup costs under §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act without proof of proximate cause of the release of hazardous substances into the environment. Decisions o...

The court holds that under §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the state may seek to recover response costs for cleanup of dioxin released at the Minker hazardous waste facility, even though defendant's liability is premised upon arrangements ...

The court imposes a civil penalty of $800,000 for admitted violations of defendant's national pollutant discharge elimination system permit. The court notes that defendant admits to at least 328 violations of its permit and calculates a civil penalty based on the economic benefit of delayed complian...

The court holds that an environmental group with an interest in preserving land subject to a condemnation action under the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Act may not intervene as of right under Rule 24(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) in the condemnation proceeding. The court rule...

The court holds that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prior to issuing a Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) §104 permit for the taking of orca whales. The court first hol...

The court holds that amending a state-held, federally funded conservation easement to allow expansion of a private golf course is a conversion to other than public outdoor recreation uses and so requires federal approval under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act. The court holds that even thoug...

The court rules that §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) contemplates recovery for private cleanup activities undertaken at a hazardous waste disposal site in the absence of any governmental action with respect to the particular site. Refuting ...

The court rules that land that exhibits wetland characteristics only because of unrelated government river maintenance is not within the Corps of Engineers' jurisdiction under Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §404. The court notes that the area in question, though once a side-channel of ...