The court holds that a consent order settling an administrative enforcement proceeding initiated by a state agency against the defendant for violation of Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) permit standards is not diligent prosecution barring plaintiff's FWPCA §505 citizen suit. Section 505...

The court modifies a consent decree, 6 ELR 20588, governing promulgation of technology-based effluent limitations for toxic water pollutants under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The court sets dates for promulgation of standards for the nine industry categories for which such standards sti...

The court rules that vessels are mobile sources under the Clean Air Act, but that some emissions from vessels docked at marine terminal facilities may be attributed to the terminals without violating §110(a)(5)(C)'s ban on indirect source regulation. In 1982, the Environmental Protection Agency (EP...

In a citizen suit alleging that the Secretary of the Interior both failed to enforce the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) against operators improperly claiming the two-acre exemption and erred procedurally in suspending and withdrawing the two-acre rule, the court holds that improp...

In a citizen suit against the Secretary of the Interior for his failure to assess penalties and take enforcement actions against mine operators known to be in violation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), the court holds that the special venue provision of §520(c)(1) applies ...

The court denies defendants' motions to dismiss a cleanup action brought under §7003 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and §106(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), ruling that at least the latter provision imposes liability t...

The court rules that a slough area separated by a barrier from and without a hydrologic connection to a navigable water is a wetland adjacent to waters of the United States and subject to Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §404 permit requirements. First, the court holds that the slough ar...

The court holds a hazardous waste transporter and a corporate hazardous waste generator and two of its officers jointly and severally liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for government response costs incurred after enactment of CERCLA, incl...

After finding that the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the court enjoins segments of defendants' plans for spraying herenicides within the Siuslaw National Forest in Oregon. At the outset, the court re...

The court rules that the Department of the Interior (DOI) must conduct a rulemaking if it wants to rescind an arguably unconstitutional regulation implementing §204(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), which empowers the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee to order wit...