The court holds that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) prohibits the Secretary of Interior from issuing regulations permitting the sport trapping of eastern timber wolves, a threatened species, unless the Secretary determines that population pressures within the wolves' ecosystem cannot otherwise be ...

The court holds that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) did not need to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the issuance of a preliminary permit for a hydroelectric project on the Tuolumne River, because the permit did n...

The court holds that punitive damages are available under the Price-Anderson Act. Though the Act is intended as a compensatory rather than punitive scheme, Congress intended that state law be used to determine the damages available, subject only to the upper limits imposed by the Act. Congress expre...

In an order to be followed by an explanatory opinion, the court reverses the order of the district court denying citizens living near the hazardous waste dump site that is the subject of this action intervention as of right. The court therefore also vacates the portion of the order granting permissi...

The court rules that generators of hazardous waste are strictly or absolutely liable for injuries caused by wastes leaking from disposal sites, but that waste haulers, municipal dump owners, and state regulators are not. Ruling on summary judgment motions by several groups of defendants in an action...

The court rules that cleanup cost recovery actions under Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §311(f)(1) are governed by a six-year statute of limitations under 28 U.S.C. §2415(a). The court notes that the FWPCA does not specify a statute of limitations and its legislative history does not ...

The court holds that a citizen who kept a fuel and waste oil facility with an alleged history of zoning and pollution law violations under surveillance from her neighboring property is not liable for invasion of privacy. First, the corporate entity cannot maintain an action for invasion of privacy, ...

The court rules that under §505(b)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrative enforcement proceeding is not a "court" action barring commencement of a citizen enforcement suit. Applying its analysis in an earlier case under the cit...

In a suit brought by the state of New York under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and state nuisance law to require defendants to remove hazardous waste from their property, the court affirms the district court's finding of civil contempt against defendants f...

The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) monitoring program for total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) meets the Safe Drinking Water Act's mandate to protect the public health. EPA requires only quarterly monitoring, and determines compliance with the maximum contaminant level (MCL)...