REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
Draft EPA/Corps Guidance Seeks to Expand Federal Jurisdiction over Wetlands, as Congress and the Courts Question Agency Authority159
South Coast Air Quality Management District Releases New Model for Estimating Air Emissions Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act160
PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS
Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions163
RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS
Circuit Court of Appeals:
Ninth Circuit Finds Holder of a Mere Possessory Interest Cannot Be the ‘Owner’ of a Facility to Establish CERCLA Liability167
City of Los Angeles v. San Pedro Boat Works BCI, ___F.3d___, Case No. 08-56163 (9th Cir. Mar. 14, 2011).
Fourth Circuit Holds that CGL Insurance Policy Does Not Cover Regulatory Liability under CERCLA168
Industrial Enterprises. v. Penn America Ins. Co., ___F.3d___, Case No. 09-2346 (4th Cir. Mar. 18, 2011).
Ninth Circuit Finds Los Angeles County Flood Control District Liable for Discharged Pollutants in Violation of the Clean Water Act170
Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. County of Los Angeles, ___F.3d___, Case No. 10-56017 (9th Cir. Mar. 10, 2011).
Ninth Circuit Finds California’s Regulations of Maritime Fuel Usage Is Not Preempted by Federal Submerged Lands Act172
Pacific Merchant Shipping Association v. Goldstene, ___F.3d___, Case No. 09-17765 (9th Cir. Mar. 28, 2011).
District Court:
District Court Finds Subject Matter Jurisdiction and Plaintiffs Sufficiently Stated Claims under RCRA for Soil and Groundwater Contamination174
Estate of Serracante v. Esso Standard Oil (Puerto Rico), ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 09-1326 (DRD) (D. P.R. Mar. 17, 2011).
District Court Applies Rapanos Decision’s ‘Plurality’ Standard to Hold that the Forest Service Violated the Clean Water Act177
Sequoia Forestkeeper v. U.S. Forest Service, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. CV F 09-392 LJO JLT (E.D. Cal. Mar. 15, 2011).
District Court Holds Environmental Plaintiff Cannot Intervene in Clean Air Enforcement Action to Bring Endangered Species Act Claims178
U.S. v. Pacific Gas & Electric, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. C 09-4503 SI (N.D. Cal. Mar. 3, 2011).
District Court Rejects Notion that ‘Any Decree Is Better than No Decree At All’—Declines to Grant Unopposed Motion for Entry of Proposed CWA Consent Decree180
U.S. v. City of Akron, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 5:09CV272 (N.D. Ohio Mar. 17, 2011).
District Court Finds Discharges into Man-Made Canal with Seasonal Flow May Violate the Clean Water Act182
U.S. v. Vierstra, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 1:10-cr-204-REB, (D. Id. Mar. 18, 2011).
RECENT STATE DECISIONS
Wyoming Supreme Court finds Air Quality Permit for Industrial Coal Gasification Plant Properly Based on Facility’s Routine Operations185
Sierra Club v. Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, 2011 WY 42, Case No. S-10-0105 (Wy. Mar 9, 2011).
