Environmental Law Blog
Supreme Court Finds Federal Law Preempts Agreements Between Trucking Companies and the Port of Los Angeles
October 8th, 2013
On June 13, 2013, in American Trucking Ass’n, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, the United States Supreme Court held that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) expressly preempts certain provisions of a concession agreeme…
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Categories: Environmental Litigation
Tags: Mary E. Wilke
Ninth Circuit Court Holds that Clean Water Act does not Bar Citizen Suit where State had not Commenced an Action “to Require Compliance” with a NPDES Permit
August 12th, 2013
By Michael Einhorn and Nancy Wilms In California Sportfishing Protection Alliance v. Chico Scrap Metal, Inc., Case No. 11-16959 (9th Cir. July 22, 2013), plaintiff California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (“Plaintiff”) alleged that defendants…
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Tags: Michael Einhorn
Ninth Circuit Holds Wood Preservative from Utility Poles Discharged into the Environment does not Violate the Clean Water Act or RCRA
July 1st, 2013
In Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 713 F.3d 502 (9th Cir. April 3, 2013), the Ninth Circuit panel affirmed the dismissal of a citizen suit alleging utility poles discharged wood preservative containing pentachlorophe…
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Deferred EIR Mitigation Measure Satisfies CEQA
June 26th, 2013
The California Court of Appeals held that an environmental impact report (“EIR”) which identified landscaping as a mitigation measure to the project’s visual impact satisfied the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”). The Court foun…
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Tags: Mary E. Wilke
EPA Releases Draft Vapor Intrusion Guidance
May 15th, 2013
On April 11, 2013, the EPA released draft final vapor intrusion guidance (“Guidance”) for assessing and mitigating vapor intrusion pathways from subsurface sources to indoor air. The Guidance presents EPA’s current recommendations for identifyi…
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Tags: Mary E. Wilke
New EPA Policy Re: Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser Benefits for Tenants
May 14th, 2013
In December 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) adopted a new policy setting forth the conditions on which the agency will consider providing CERCLA bona fide prospective purchaser (BFPP) protection to tenants who lease formerly or…
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Tags: Mary E. Wilke
Todd Tholke v. Sailing Vessel Energy Team AC45 Litigation Successfully Resolved, Energy Team Thanks Tholke
May 11th, 2013
ELG is pleased to announce that it has confidentially resolved all claims arising out of Todd Tholke v. Sailing Vessel Energy Team AC45, Civ. No. 12-05162, Northern District of California. The case involved local sailor Todd Tholke’s salvage and re…
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Tags: John Edgcomb
Fourth Circuit Holds Zero-Share Apportionment Unavailable to Current Owner or Operator PRPs but Affirms Zero-Share Allocation; Rejects Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser Defense Due to a Failure to Exercise Appropriate Care
May 6th, 2013
By Michael Einhorn and Tiffany Hedgpeth In PCS Nitrogen Inc. v. Ashley II of Charleston, the Fourth Circuit (“Court”) affirmed the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina’s rulings addressing CERCLA liability at a former fertiliz…
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Tags: Michael Einhorn
The Impacts of Sequestration Cuts on EPA Programs
April 9th, 2013
Sequestration budget cuts (“budget cuts”) went into effect on March 1, 2013. These budget cuts required EPA to cut approximately $425 million from its $8.3 billion annual budget, or about 5%. In a February 6, 2013 letter, Lisa Jackson, then-Admin…
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Tags: Mary E. Wilke
State Law Claims by Private PRP Are Not Preempted by CERCLA § 107 Claim, at Least Initially
April 2nd, 2013
On March 18, a New York federal district court held that a company seeking to recoup the response costs it incurred cleaning up contamination at a former chemical plant initially may maintain state law claims as well as a cost recovery claim under CE…
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