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Environmental, Energy and Climate Change Law & Regulation Reporter

PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions223

LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING

Mining Company Files ‘Takings’ Claim in the Federal Claims Court Based on the EPA’s CERCLA Cleanup Actions227

RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

Circuit Court of Appeals:

Seventh Circuit Permits RCRA Citizen Suit Despite Concurrent Actions by State Environmental Agency230

Adkins v. VIM Recycling, Inc., ___F.3d___, Case No. 10-2237 (7th Cir. May 3, 2011).

Alcoa Power Generating Hits Snag on Yadkin River—D.C. Circuit Finds Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Timely232

Alcoa Power Generating, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, ___F.3d___, Case No. 10-1066 (D.C. Cir. May 3, 2011).

D.C. Circuit Finds It Lacks Jurisdiction to Overturn EPA Waiver that Allows California to Set Its Own GHG Regulations for Automakers235

Chamber of Commerce of the U.S., et al., v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., ___F.3d___, Case No. 09-1237 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 29, 2011).

Ninth Circuit Affirms that Regional Air Quality Regulations Setting Emissions Standards for Diesel Engines Are Not Preempted by the Clean Air

Act237

Jensen Family Farms, Inc. v. Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District, ___F.3d___, Case No. 09-16790 (9th Cir. May 27, 2011).

Ninth Circuit Finds Stormwater Runoff from Logging Roads Is a Point Source Discharge Requiring a Clean Water Act NPDES Permit239

Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Brown, ___F.3d___, Case No. 07-35266 (9th Cir. May 17, 2011).

First Circuit Sidesteps Federal Preemption Issue in Holding that Federal Agencies Must Comply with Required NEPA Analyses241

U.S. v. Coalition for Buzzards Bay, ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 10-1664, 10-1668 (1st Cir. May 17, 2011).

District Court:

District Court Holds City May Be Liable under RCRA after Private Parties Dump Hazardous Waste into Leaky Sewer243

KFD Enterprises, Inc., v. City of Eureka, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. C 08-4571 MMC 2011 (N.D. Cal. 2011).

District Court Finds Diligent Prosecution Standard Does Not Bar Plaintiffs from Bringing CWA Citizen Suit for Selenium Effluent Violations244

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Inc. v. Independence Coal Company, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 3:10-0836 (S.D. W.Va. May 20, 2011).

District Court Dismisses CERCLA Recovery Suit for Failure to Allege a ‘Release or Threat of a Release’ Occurred247

Oil Re-Refining Company, Inc. v. Pacific Recycling, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 11-6042-HO (D. Or. May 3, 2011).

District Court Finds CERCLA Consent Decree that Is ‘Fair, Reasonable and in the Public Interest’ Cannot Be Modified249

U.S. v. Lyon, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. CV F 07-0491 (E.D. Cal. May 11, 2011).