Waste

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a closely watched Superfund cost-recovery case next month, according to a court official, which could affect the future of EPA's successful voluntary Superfund cleanup initiative.

Environmental groups are urging a federal appeals court to prevent waste industry groups from weighing in on their legal challenge to an EPA rule waiving certain landfill requirements in order to foster innovation.

A coalition of activist groups late last month urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to deny a motion by the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) and the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) to jointly file an amicus brief in the case.

The Department of Interior is rejecting mining company charges that its Bureau of Land Management (BLM) cannot oversee a Nevada site's Superfund cleanup because it owns public lands on the site and therefore faces cleanup liability there.

Mining giant Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) recently called on BLM to acknowledge its status as a potentially responsible party (PRP) at the Anaconda Copper Mine in Yerington, NV, and withdraw from a memorandum of understanding granting it oversight over the cleanup because it owns 49 percent of the property.

In a late-session move, one of the year's most controversial environmental initiatives -- liability relief for brownfield developers under some circumstances -- cleared the Legislature and is being sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), who will almost certainly sign it. While developers are pleased with the final product, some environmentalists say the measure is deeply flawed and resent the last-minute maneuvering that led to the bill's passage.