The court rules that the United States has not waived its sovereign immunity under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for civil penalties imposed in state administrative proceedings. Before a claim for penalties can be assessed against the United States, it must clearly consent to be ...

The court holds that the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by selling oil and gas leases on national forest land in Montana without preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS), and the sale of the leases without a comprehensi...

The court holds that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) decision not to issue an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for cadmium pursuant to §6(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act was supported by the record. Although cadmium is known to cause kidney damage at high...

The court holds that the impacts from an elevated downtown expressway constitute "constructive use" of a historic city hall, a railroad terminal, and a park and therefore trigger the requirements of §4(f) of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Act. The court first holds that the failure of the F...

The court holds that the nonpreempted provisions of the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act are severable from the preempted provisions, and the corporations assessed taxes under the preempted provisions of the Act are not entitled to a refund if the state legislature reimburses the Spill ...

The court affirms a district court decision upholding the Secretary of Transportation's approval of construction of the Presidential Parkway through historic properties in Atlanta, Georgia. The court holds that the district court retained jurisdiction to hear the motion for summary judgment filed by...

The court holds that plaintiffs in a private action for response costs under §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) cannot recover the costs of medical exams and the value of lost property, but may recover costs incurred in the destruction and rem...

The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) properly issued an administrative subpoena under §11(c) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in connection with its investigation of alleged oil discharges at Alyeska's oil loading terminal in Valdez, Alaska. At the same time that...

The court reviews the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) revised permissible exposure level (PEL) for asbestos, upholding OSHA's findings concerning significant risk and feasibility but finding lack of substantial evidence to support various other aspects of the new standard. I...

The court rules that neither the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) nor New Jersey's Right-to-Know Act provides a private cause of action for money damages by an injured employee. Plaintiff was injured in an explosion while cleaning a tankertrailer that contained a dangerous substance, and he now s...