ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
U.S. EPA Proposes Cleaner Emission Standards under the Clean Air Act for Wood-Burning Stoves and Heaters95
PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS
Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions97
RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS
Circuit Court of Appeals:
D.C. Circuit Vacates Part of EPA Clean Air Act Rule Establishing a Federal Implementation Plan for ‘Indian Country’101
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al, ___F.3d___, Case No. 11-1307 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 17, 2014).
Seventh Circuit Rejects Class Certification in Benzene Contaminated Groundwater Suit103
Parko v. Shell Oil, et al., ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 13-8023 and 13-8024 (7th Cir. Jan. 17, 2014).
District Court:
District Court Concludes that NEPA Analysis Is Not Required for Small, ‘Independent’ Portion of Larger Highway Project104
Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Alabama Department of Transportation, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 2:11-CV-267-WKW (M.D. Ala. Jan. 17, 2014).
District Court Allows EPA to Alter a Binding Consent Decree which Addressed Florida Water Pollution Standards106
Florida Wildlife Federation v. McCarthy, et al., ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 4:08cv324 (N.D. Fla. Jan. 7, 2014).
District Court Holds that Defendant’s CERCLA Section 107(a) Claim Cannot Be Construed as a Contribution Claim108
Ford Motor Company v. Michigan Consolidated Gas Company, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 08-13503 (E.D. Mich. Jan. 23, 2014).
District Court Rejects Mining Defendants’ Clean Water Act Permit Shield Defense in the Face of Allegations of Watershed Runoff Contamination110
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. Elk Run Coal Company, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 3:12-0758 (S.D. W.V. Jan. 3, 2014).
District Court Finds Government’s CERCLA Claim is In Personam in Nature and Excepted from the Automatic Stay Provision of the Bankruptcy
Code112
U.S. v. Alsol Corporation, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 13-0380 (D. N.J. Jan. 2, 2014).
RECENT STATE DECISIONS
California Court of Appeal Finds Los Angeles County’s Clean Water Act MS4 Permit Requirements Are ‘Federal Mandates’ Not Refundable by State114
California Department of Finance v. Commission on State Mandates, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. B237153 (Cal.App. 2013).
California Trial Court Dismisses Challenge to State’s Authorization of Hydraulic Fracturing Opera-
tions116
Center for Biological Diversity, et al. v. California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, Case No. RG12-652054 (Alameda Super. Ct. Jan. 29, 2014).
Indiana State Court Finds Total Pollution Exclusion Clause Relives Insurer of the Duty to Defend and Indemnify Manufacturer in Perchlorate Contamination Litigation117
Chubb Custom Insurance Company, et al. v. Standard Fusee Corporation, Case No. 49A02-1301-PL-91 (Ind.App. Jan. 23, 2014).
