The court holds that a state enforcement action precludes a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen suit even though the settlement in the state action is less comprehensive than the remedy sought in the citizen suit. The court initially notes that it is undisputed that the state enforce...

The court holds that the Corps of Engineers' (Corps') denial of a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §404 permit to mine limestone in Florida is not necessarily a taking of private property requiring just compensation simply because it inhibits the landowner's ability to make a profit.The ...

The Court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) aerial photography of petitioner's chemical manufacturing facility is within its statutory authority under Clean Air Act §114(a) and was not a warrantless search prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. After petitioner denied EPA's requ...

The court rules that the 60-day notice provision in §112 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is neither applicable nor a jurisdictional prerequisite to a CERCLA §107 cost recovery action. To support its conclusion that §112(a) applies only to clai...

The court holds that the Secretary of the Interior properly ordered the cessation of mining activities at a mine granted a government-financed exemption under Alabama's approved Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) program but not actually receiving any money from government sources. T...

In a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen suit, the court holds that liability may not arise from violations of a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit that occurred more than five years before the filing of the citizen suit, but that illegal discharges within...

In a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen suit, the court holds that liability can arise for excessive discharges into a polishing lagoon prior to discharge into navigable waters and that four-hour composite samples are sufficiently accurate measurements of average daily concentration...

The court rules that neither the incurrence of governmental response costs nor a governmentally authorized cleanup program is a prerequisite to a private cost recovery action under §107(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The court initially rej...

The court holds that in an investigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), EPA is not authorized to examine all documents at a hazardous waste site to determine which are subject to a previously issued inspection warrant. Both the current and p...

The court holds that the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), their own regulations, and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to comprehensively analyze the effects of oil and gas leases on the Deep Creek Further Planning Area of t...