The court rules that §114(c) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) does not preempt state hazardous waste cleanup funds so long as those funds cannot be used to compensate for cleanup actions actually compensated for under CERCLA. Initially, the court...

The court holds that a suit by the owners and operators of the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear facility against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) alleging that the agency failed to properly warn them of safety hazards and design defects is barred by the discretionary function exception of the ...

The court holds that Alabama's statute regulating Mobile County's waste management system is not unconstitutional on its face, but that the County Commission denied plaintiffs due process by failing to notify them when the Commission would vote on their landfill permit application. The court first h...

The court holds that plaintiff may seek a declaratory judgment pursuant to §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) to establish defendant's liability for the disposal of coal tar sludge in a holding tank located on property sold to plaintiff by def...

The court holds that a Tucker Act suit brought by Wyoming landowners seeking just compensation for an alleged Fifth Amendment taking of their coal mining interests by the strip mining prohibition in Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) §510(b)(5) is not barried by the existence of tha...

The court rules that plaintiff's action for a declaration of defendants' liabilities to it for the costs of cleaning up a spill of toxic chemicals under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is not ripe for review because plaintiff's cleanup proposal has ...

The court holds that the district court did not abuse its discretion by refusing Pennsylvania's motion to vacate the 1978 federal consent decree mandating implementation of an automobile emission inspection and maintenance program in light of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision enjoining complianc...

The court rules that trial by jury is not available to a private party seeking response costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act because relief under the Act is equitable in nature. However, the court denies defendant's motion to dismiss plaintiffs' reques...

The court holds that the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) does not empower states to regulate Indians' hazardous waste activities on Indian lands. EPA refused to approve Washington's proposed state program because it purported to regulate such activities. The court first holds it has ju...

The court holds that a New Mexico statute setting conditions on the export of groundwater is facially consistent with the Commerce Clause to the extent that the conditions do not discriminate against out-of-state users more than is necessary to protect the vital interests of New Mexicans in time of ...