The court rules that the Federal Water Polluton Control Act (FWPCA) and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA), preempt maritime tort actions for damages resulting from polychlorinated biphenyl pollution of coastal waters. In Milwaukee v. Illinois, 11 ELR 20406, and Middlesex C...

The court rules that a recent purchaser of land on which hazardous substances earlier were disposed (1) cannot sue parties made responsible by §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) if the site is not on the National Priorities List (NPL) and (2) ...

The court upholds the Secretary of the Interior's designation of certain California rivers as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, holding that the Department's violations of two Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) timing regulations were trivial and insufficient to overturn ...

The court holds that a Mendocino County initiative ordinance prohibiting aerial application of phenoxy herbicides is not preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) nor the California Food and Agriculture Code. The court begins its analysis of the state preemption qu...

The court rules that §207(c) of the Clean Air Act does not authorize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow a manufacturer to offset widespread nonconformity with the Act's emission standards in a class of motor vehicles by achieving extra emission reductions in future classes instead o...

The court holds that §6001 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act does not waive sovereign immunity to state criminal actions. In an action against the Veterans Administration arising under California law governing disposal of hazardous waste, the court first notes that a waiver of sovereign...

The court holds that awarding attorney fees to a defendant-intervenor under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) would not be appropriate, even though defendants prevailed on the merits, since intervenor's participation did not substantially contribute to the goals of the ESA. The court rejects the inte...

The court holds that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) acted withinits broad authority under the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) when it issued operating licenses for Units 2 and 3 of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) based on its determination that the seismic design of SONGS provides...

In a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §505 citizen suit to enforce state and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits, the court holds that plaintiffs have standing, that plaintiffs' reliance on defendant's Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) to establish current FWPCA vio...

The court holds that appellants were not denied substantive due process by congressional designation of their property as part of the Coastal Barrier Resources System (System) pursuant to the Coastal Barrier Resources Act. Appellants claim their Topsail Island, North Carolina, property does not fit ...