» Michael Einhorn

Ninth Circuit Holds District Courts Must Engage In An Independent Substantive Evaluation Of CERCLA Consent Decrees And May Not Afford A State Agency The Same Level Of Deference As EPA

In State of Arizona v. Raytheon Co.. et al., Case No. 12-15691, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 14993 (9th Cir. Aug. 1, 2014), the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed the requirement that district courts engage in meaningful substantive review of consent decrees under the… Read More
Categories: CERCLA

District Court Holds that Prior CERCLA § 107(a) Cost Recovery Action Against a Party Limits the Party to § 113(f)(1) Contribution Claim in Subsequent Action

The District Court for the Central District of California recently held in an unpublished opinion that a party cannot bring a CERCLA § 107(a) cost recovery action for response costs which relate to a common liability shared with an earlier § 107(a)… Read More

California Governor Signs Bill To Limit Certain Prop. 65 Lawsuits

Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law Assembly Bill 227 (Gatto) to provide a two-week grace period to address certain alleged violations of failure-to-warn requirements under Proposition 65. In addition to the previously required “60-day”… Read More

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

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… Read More

Ninth Circuit Holds Wood Preservative from Utility Poles Discharged into the Environment does not Violate the Clean Water Act or RCRA

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… Read More

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

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… Read More

California Passes AB 1442, which Defines “Pharmaceutical Waste” and Authorizes its Transportation by Generators or Common Carriers under Certain Conditions

A pharmaceutical waste hauling bill, AB 1442 (Wieckowski), was chaptered into law on September 29, 2012 and went into effect on January 1, 2013. AB 1442 amends California’s Medical Waste Management Act (MWMA),[1] to define “pharmaceutical waste… Read More

Supreme Court denies petition by Solutia, Inc. to address whether a party to a consent decree may file a cost recovery action under CERCLA Section 107(a).

On October 9, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition of Solutia, Inc. and Pharmacia Corporation to review a March 6, 2012 ruling by the Eleventh Circuit which affirmed a grant of summary judgment and held that parties subject to a consent d… Read More

Ninth Circuit Holds That Dry Cleaning Equipment Manufacturer Is Not Liable as an Arranger under CERCLA or on State Law Nuisance and Trespass Claims

In Team Enterprises, LLC v. Western Investment Real Estate Trust, No. 10-16916, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 15383 (9th Cir., Cal. July 26, 2011), the Ninth Circuit held that the manufacturer of a machine used in the dry cleaning process may not be held liab… Read More

Supreme Court Denies GE’s Petition on Suit Challenging Constitutionality of EPA’s Unilateral Administrative Order Authority

On June 6, 2011, the Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari by General Electric (GE) to hear the appeal of General Electric v. Jackson, a lengthy case in which GE had unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of the Comprehensive Enviro… Read More