Constitutional Law › Environmental Law › Toxic Torts

CWP 4750 of 2013 [Hemant Goswami vs. Union of India]

PIL - Ban Identified Carcinogens

The Writ petition is about the unrestricted commercial availability of many substances which are labelled as Group 1 (Class A) or Group 2A/2B Carcinogens (Sure-shot Cancer causing agents) by the WHO IARC (International Agency...more

Appellate Court Upholds Statutory Due Diligence Requirement and Finds Ownership Status after Declaration of Taking

Liability based on property ownership under New Jersey’s Spill Compensation and Control Act (“Spill Act”) and its impact on condemnation cost recovery suits were the subject of an interesting decision last month in New...more

RCRA Citizen Suits Are Still Constitutional

2012 is shaping up to be the Year of the Commerce Clause. Not only is the Commerce Clause at the center of the Supreme Court ‘s impending review of the Affordable Care Act later this spring; it is also at the heart of a...more

Subject Matter Jurisdiction Under RCRA: Testing the Limits of the Commerce Clause in a Citizens' Suit

Courts have traditionally construed federal jurisdiction of environmental statutes expansively, consistent with their remedial intent. However, recent opinions in Voggenthaler v. Maryland Square, LLC, Case 2:08-cv-1618 (D....more

Merits Brief to US Supreme Court in Public Nuisance Case Challenges "Standardless Liability"

Amicus Curiae Brief on the Merits: "Such a standardless exercise is not jurisprudential. Instead, it transforms courts across the United States into regulatory agencies, requires them to devise ad hoc standards for each...more

Atlantic Richfield Company, et al v. County of Santa Clara, et al

Amicus Curiae Brief Supporting Petition for Certiorari in United States Supreme Court

The Brief urges review of the California Supreme Court's ruling allowing public authorities to use contingent fee counsel to prosecute public nuisance cases. It asserts that granting private counsel financial interests in...more

Comment: Connecticut v. American Electric Power Co.

This comment discusses Connecticut v. American Electric Power Co. (“AEP”), in which the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit announced that the federal common law of nuisance could potentially provide the basis...more

Pay Now, Challenge Later: D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Constitutionality of EPA Unilateral Administrative Orders in...

An important decision has upheld the government’s power to order private parties to take expensive cleanup actions with little ability to challenge the order until after completing the work. On June 29, 2010, the U.S. Court...more

Yucca Mountain Project: federal, state and tribal struggles for sovereignty

Millions fight to save Nevada's people and land from nuclear waste. The Yucca Mountain Project has gone from bad to ugly, and now involves a number of law suits involving federal, state and tribal sovereignty over Yucca...more

Supreme Court Upholds Private Right of Action Under CERCLA

A unanimous Supreme Court has removed any doubt about a private party's right to sue for environmental response costs under the federal Superfund. In U.S. v. Atlantic Research Corporation, Case No. 06-562, the Court addressed...more