The Fourth Circuit holds that wetlands bordering a small backwater stream connecting with a navigable river are wetlands "neighboring" navigable waters and subject to Army Corps of Engineeers permit jurisdiction under §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA). The government had sough...

The court finds that defendant operators of a community water supply system have violated the Safe Drinking Water Act by failing to conduct required tests of the water supplied, to report to the Environmental Protection Agency the results of any tests that have been conducted, and to give notice to ...

The court rules that generator liability under §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) can be joint and several and does not require proof that the generator is responsible for the wastes whose release brought CERCLA into play. The cou...

The court rules that a 1982 amendment of §8A of the Endangered Species Act completely eliminated the population and kill level requirements for "no detriment" findings allowing export of bobcats under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The court rul...

The court rules that the Eleventh Amendment bars a defendant waste generator from filing a third-party complaint under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) against a state that owned and operated a hazardous waste facility. The court rules that absent st...

The court rules that although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has listed plaintiffs' property on the National Priorities List (NPL) and advised plaintiffs of potential liability for cleanup, plaintiffs' suit for declaratory judgment on liability and eligibility for cost reimbursement under...

The court holds that the Army Corps of Engineers violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by granting permission for a wetlands development project on a relatively pristine part of west Galveston Island, Texas, without preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzing the cumu...

The court rules that the congressional designation of plaintiffs' land as a coastal barrier ineligible for flood control insurance is rationally related to the purposes of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA). First, the court holds that enactment of the CBRA moots any challenge to a coastal bar...

The court affirms the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) disapproval of a delayed compliance order (DCO) issued by the Indiana Air Pollution Control Board to Bethlehem Steel Corp., holding that the DCO is inconsistent with EPA's valid partial approval of a revision to the Indiana state implem...

The court holds that an Alaska statute prohibiting the discharge into state territorial waters of any ballast water from the oil cargo tanks of vessels is not preempted by federal laws that also regulate ballast water discharges. Coast Guard regulations under the Ports and Waterways Safety Act as am...