The Seventh Circuit holds that Illinois' federal common law of nuisance claims for pre-1972 pollution of navigable waters are preempted by the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments (FWPCA). The court's prior decision, 10 ELR 20323, was vacated by the Supreme Court, 11 ELR 10131, and re...

The Third Circuit affirms the district court's ruling, 12 ELR 20136, that §204(b)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withhold sewage treatment grant funds from a county sewerage authority to which a municipality without a us...

Reversing the district court's denial, 11 ELR 20555, of appellant's motion to quash an administrative search warrant obtained by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Sixth Circuit holds that, under §114(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act, employees of private contractors are not representatives o...

The district court holds that §7003 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) provides a substantive cause of action applicable to acts preceding the statute's enactment that resulted in present conditions of imminent hazard. Initially, the court rules that §7003 establishes a substanti...

The Third Circuit invalidates the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) action in indefinitely postponing the effective date of final amendments to regulations governing Federal Water Pollution Control Act pretreatment standards for failure to comply with the notice-and-comment requirements of t...

The court orders defendants, operators of a hazardous waste disposal facility, to comply with the notification and interim status requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Plaintiffs commenced this action under the citizen suit provision of RCRA alleging that defendants were...

The court refuses to preliminarly enjoin the Secretary of the Interior from implementing the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan, prepared pursuant to §601 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). Initially, the court rules that in environmental cases a preliminary injunct...

The district court denies defendant's motion for summary judgment in an action alleging discharges of a pollutant in violation of §301(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The defendant is to be judged under a standard of strict liability. Its allegation that its discharges were made purs...

In a suit seeking to enjoin enforcement of Rhode Island's regulations governing the transportation of hazardous materials, the court holds that certain of these regulations are inconsistent with and therefore preempted by the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (HMTA). Initially, the court rules ...

The court rules that appellants have no right to an evidentiary hearing to challenge a wetlands restoration plan imposed by the Army Corps of Engineers under the terms of a consent decree between appellants and the Corps. After the Corps' denial of a dredge and fill permit was upheld, 12 ELR 20860, ...