The court holds that failure to answer the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) information requests under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) §3007(a) may subject a defendant to the imposition of civil penalities pursuant to RCRA § 3008(g), and neither the Fourth nor Fifth Amendmen...

The court holds that shipping toxic acrylonitrile by rail through a residential area of metropolitan Chicago is an abnormally dangerous activity for which defendant is strictly liable. The freight yard where the accident occurred was adjacent to a residential neighborhood, and the spill forced the e...

The court holds that construction of suicide barriers on a historic landmark bridge is not a transportation project requiring the use of historic land within the meaning of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Act, and the Federal Highway Administration's (FHwA's) determination that construction o...

The court holds that Wauconda, a non-home-rule village in Illinois, has the power to enact ordinances to protect the health and safety of its community under state law, but that its ordinance regulating pesticide applicators is preempted by the Illinois Pesticide Act and the Structural Pest Control ...

The court holds that the Nuclear Waste Policy Act's (NWPA's) Nuclear Waste Fund is not available to reimburse states for expenses incurred in litigating against the United States. Plaintiff states filed suit challenging the Department of Energy's (DOE's) guidelines for selection of waste repository ...

The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not unreasonably delayed rulemaking to consider whether to add strip mines to the list of pollutant sources subject to fugitive emissions regulation under the Clean Air Act's prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) program. The...

The court holds that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it issued a permit under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) authorizing scientific research on killer whales in Puget Sound without preparing an environmental assessment ...

The court holds that Clean Air Act §118 waives federal agencies' sovereign immunity from civil penalties for violations of Ohio air pollution regulations, and Ohio has properly stated a claim upon which relief can be granted. Clean Air Act §118 makes federal agencies subject to state requirements,...

The court rules that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has discretion under Clean Air Act §176(a) to decline to initiate proceedings to terminate federal highway funds in the event of a state's failure to submit an adequate state implementation plan (SIP) if EPA finds that the state is maki...

The court summarily rejects various motions to dismiss in an action brought by the United States for injunctive relief and recovery of cleanup costs under §§106 and 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and §7003 of the Resource Conservation and...