PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS
Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions63
LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING
Federal District Court in Washington Allows Clean Water Act Case to Proceed Based on Allegations of Widespread Discharges from Coal Trains67
New Orleans Authorities at Odds Over Lawsuit Seeking Billions in Damages from Industry for Wetlands Losses69
RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS
Circuit Court of Appeals:
D.C. Circuit Vacates EPA’s Clean Air Act Nonconforming Penalties Proposed after New Emission Standard Comes into Effect71
Daimler Trucks North American LLC v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___, Case No. 12-1433 (D.C. Cir. Dec. 11, 2013).
Ninth Circuit Upholds Grant of Summary Judgment to Army Corps under the Clean Water Act and National Environmental Policy Act73
Jones III v. National Marine Fisheries Service, ___F.3d___, Case No. 11–35954 (9th Cir. Dec. 20, 2013).
Eleventh Circuit Finds Testifying Experts’ File and Communications Cannot Be Shielded from Production by Attorney Work Product Protection75
Republic of Ecuador v. Dr. Robert E. Hinchee, ___F.3d___, Case No. 12-16216 (11th Cir. Dec. 18, 2013).
District Court:
District Court Finds a Statute Incorporated into Another Reflects that Moment in Time and Does Not Include All Subsequent Amendments to the Incorporated Statute77
Conservation Law Foundation v. Public Service Company of New Hampshire, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 11-cv-353-JL (D. N.H. Dec. 17, 2013).
District Court Dismisses CERCLA §107 Cost Recovery Action and Rejects CERCLA Recovery against a Contractual Indemnitor78
Cyprus Amax Minerals Company v. TCI Pacific Communications, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 11-CV-0252-JED-PJC (N.D. Ok. Dec. 3, 2013).
Federal Claims Court Holds that the U.S. Army Corps’ Failure to Adjust Wetlands Credit Composition Exposes It to Contractual Liability and Presumed Monetary Damages81
Davis Wetlands Bank, LLC. v. U.S., ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 13-268 C (Fed. Ct. Cl. Dec. 16, 2013).
District Court Dismisses As Premature Plaintiffs’ Challenge to Potential Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Act TMDL Water Pollution Trading Program83
Food and Water Watch and Friends of the Earth v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 12-1639 (D. D.C. Dec. 13, 2013).
RECENT STATE DECISIONS
New York Appellate Court Challenge to Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Program Fails amidst Procedural Shortcomings86
Thrun v. Cuomo, Case No. 516556 (N.Y.App.Div. Dec. 5, 2013).
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Strikes Down as Unconstitutional, State Law Which Sought to Eliminate Municipal Zoning Authority over the ‘Fracking’ of Oil and Gas87
Robinson Township v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Case Nos. 63 & 64 MAP 2012 (Pa. Dec. 19 2013).
Pennsylvania Appellate Court Establishes Threshold for Admitting Expert Testimony in Environmental Wrongful Death Case89
Snizavich v. Rohm and Haas Company, Case No.1383 EDA 2012 (Pa. Super. Ct. Dec. 6, 2013).
