Association to Protect Hammersley, Eld, and Totten Inlets v. Taylor Resources, Inc.
299 F.3d 1007 (9th Cir. 2002)
The Association to Protect Hammersley, Eld, and Totten Inlets (APHETI), a nonprofit organization consisting of residents of the southern shore of Puget Sound, sued Taylor Resources, Inc. (Taylor), an aquaculture operation specializing in mussels, under the citizen suit provision of... {Continue reading}

Baccarat Fremont Developers, LLC v. U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
425 F.3d 1150 (9th Cir. 2005)
Baccarat Fremont Developers, LLC (Baccarat) appealed a district court's grant of summary judgment to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) that allowed the Corps to retain jurisdiction, based on the Clean Water Act (CWA),[1] over 7.66 acres of wetlands... {Continue reading}

Big Meadows Grazing Ass'n v. United States ex. rel. Veneman
344 F.3d 940 (9th Cir. 2003)
Big Meadows Grazing Association (Association) sued the United States claiming it violated the statutes governing the Wetlands Reserve Program[1] by implementing a wetlands easement conservation plan on the Association's property without obtaining the Association's consent. The Ninth Circuit, affirming the... {Continue reading}

Borden Ranch Partnership v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
261 F.3d 810 (9th Cir. 2001), cert. granted
Angelo K. Tsakopoulos (Tsakopoulos) appealed the district court's ruling[1] that, as the owner of Borden Ranch, he had violated the Clean Water Act (CWA)[2] on 358 separate occasions. The district court had levied a $500,000 fine against Tsakapoulos and required... {Continue reading}

California Trout, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
313 F.3d 1131 (9th Cir. 2002), petition for cert. filed,71 U.S.L.W. 3759 (U.S. May 27, 2003) (No. 02-1735)
At issue in this case was California Trout's petition for review of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order that denied California Trout a rehearing regarding FERC's reissuance of an annual license to Southern California Edison (Edison) for operation of... {Continue reading}

Citizens for a Better Env't-California v. Union Oil Co. of California
83 F.3d 1111 (9th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 117 S.Ct. 789 (1997)
Citizens for a Better Environment (CBE) brought an action against Union Oil Co. (UNOCAL), claiming UNOCAL had violated Clean Water Act effluent standards and water quality standards. Because UNOCAL had previously made a settlement payment to the State Regional Board... {Continue reading}

City of Arcadia v. E.P.A.
411 F.3d 1103 (9th Cir. 2005)
Several municipalities near Los Angeles (collectively "Cities") challenged the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve the State of California's established total maximum daily load (TMDL) of trash that can be discharged into the Los Angeles River because... {Continue reading}

City of San Diego v. Whitman
242 F.3d 1097 (9th Cir. 2001)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appealed the district court's grant of a preliminary injunction, which prevented EPA from enforcing a July 2000 National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit application deadline against the City of San Diego. EPA argued that... {Continue reading}

Community Association for Restoration of the Environment v. Henry Bosma Dairy
305 F.3d 943 (9th Cir. 2002)
At issue in this case were alleged Clean Water Act (CWA)[1] violations by the defendants, two dairy farms and their owner, Henry Bosma (collectively Bosma). The district court found that the notice letter the plaintiff, Community Association for Restoration of... {Continue reading}

Defenders of Wildlife v. Browner
191 F.3d 1159 (9th Cir. 1999)
p>Defenders of Wildlife (petitioners) objected to draft National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Tempe, Tucson, Phoenix, and Pima County, Arizona. The petitioners claimed that the permits must contain numeric effluent... {Continue reading}

Defenders of Wildlife v. E.P.A.
420 F.3d 946 (9th Cir. 2005)
Conservation groups Defenders of Wildlife and Center for Biological Diversity, and concerned citizen Craig Miller (collectively Defenders) petitioned the Ninth Circuit for review of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision to transfer Clean Water Act (CWA)[1] National Pollution Discharge... {Continue reading}

Defenders of Wildlife v. E.P.A.
450 F.3d 394 (9th Cir 2006)
The Ninth Circuit denied a petition from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for en banc reconsideration of the Ninth Circuit's 2005 decision in Defenders of Wildlife v. EPA (Defenders).[1] Defenders concerned EPA's decision to transfer to Arizona the... {Continue reading}

Defenders of Wildlife v. Flowers
414 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2005)
Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity (Defenders) challenged a district court's summary judgment ruling that an Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps) decision to forego consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) regarding the effect of two... {Continue reading}

Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Lumber Co.
230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. 2000)
In light of the Supreme Court's decision in Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc. (Laidlaw),[1] the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment for plaintiff's lack of standing and remanded the case... {Continue reading}

Environmental Defense Center, Inc. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
344 F.3d 832 (9th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 124 S. Ct. 2811 (2004)
Environmental, industrial, and municipal groups challenged a final rule issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Water Act (CWA)[1] in three independent actions in three federal courts of appeals. The actions were consolidated and heard... {Continue reading}

Environmental Defense Center, Inc. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
319 F.3d 398 (9th Cir. 2003)
In three consolidated cases, petitioners Texas Cities Coalition on Stormwater and the Texas Counties Stormwater Coalition (Municipal Petitioners), petitioners Environmental Defense Center and petitioner-intervenor Natural Resources Defense Council (Environmental Petitioners), and petitioners American Forest & Paper Association and the National... {Continue reading}

Friends of Pinto Creek v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
504 F.3d 1007 (9th Cir. 2007)
Friends of Pinto Creek and other environmental groups appealed a decision by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit under the Clean Water Act (CWA)[1]to Carlota Copper Company (Carlota).... {Continue reading}

Great Basin Mine Watch v. Hankins
456 F.3d 955 (9th Cir. 2006)
Great Basin Mine Watch and the Mineral Policy Center (collectively Great Basin) appealed a district court grant of summary judgment to defendants United States Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management (collectively Bureau). Great Basin had alleged... {Continue reading}

Headwaters Inc. v. Talent Irrigation District
243 F.3d 526 (9th Cir. 2001)
The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court, holding that the Talent Irrigation District (TID) discharged a pollutant into navigable waters from a point source, in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA).[1] The court also held that a label... {Continue reading}

Knee Deep Cattle Co. v. Bindana Inv. Co.
94 F.3d 514 (9th Cir. 1996), cert. dismissed, 117 S.Ct. 1027 (1997)
Knee Deep Cattle Company ("Knee Deep") filed suit against Bindana after Bindana's numerous National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit violations. The district court granted Bindana's motion to dismiss, having concluded that the previous on-going enforcement actions taken by the... {Continue reading}

League of Wilderness Defenders/Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v. Forsgren
309 F.3d 1181 (9th Cir. 2002)
League of Wilderness Defenders and other environmental groups (LWD) challenged a United States Forest Service (USFS) aerial pesticide spraying program, alleging that USFS failed to obtain a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and prepared an inadequate Environmental Impact... {Continue reading}

National Wildlife Federation v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
384 F.3d 1163 (9th Cir. 2004)
The National Wildlife Federation and other environmental organizations (collectively NWF) sued the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps),alleging violations of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).[1] NWF argued that the Corps' Record of Consultation and Statement of Decision (ROD) regarding the operation... {Continue reading}

Natural Resources Defense Council v. Southwest Marine, Inc.
236 F.3d 985 (9th Cir. 2000)
Southwest Marine, a business that repairs and maintains marine vessels, appealed a district court decision that it had violated the Clean Water Act (CWA)[1] by failing to implement adequately its pollution prevention and monitoring plans as required by its National... {Continue reading}

Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg
457 F.3d 1023 (9th Cir. 2006)
City of Healdsburg (the City) appealed a district court's judgment in favor of Northern California River Watch (River Watch) that found the City in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA)[1] for discharging sewage from a waste treatment plant into... {Continue reading}

Northern Plains Resource Council v. Fidelity Exploration and Development Co.
325 F.3d 1155 (9th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 124 S. Ct. 434 (2003)
Northern Plains Resource Council (NPRC) appealed after the district court granted summary judgment to Fidelity Exploration and Development Company (Fidelity). NPRC brought a citizen suit under the Clean Water Act (CWA)[1] against Fidelity alleging illegal discharges into the navigable waters... {Continue reading}

Northwest Envtl. Advocates v. City of Portland
74 F.3d 945 (9th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 116 S.Ct. 2550 (1996)
This case involved the denial for rehearing and the denial of the suggestion for rehearing en banc that was requested by the City of Portland after the Ninth Circuit's decision in Northwest Envtl. Advocates v. City of Portland (NWEA II).[1]... {Continue reading}

Pronsolino v. Nastri
291 F.3d 1123 (9th Cir. 2002),cert. denied, 123 S. Ct. 2573 (2003)
Betty and Guido Pronsolino, the Mendocino County Farm Bureau, the California Farm Bureau Federation, and the American Farm Bureau Federation (collectively the Pronsolinos) challenged the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Water Act (CWA)[1] to set... {Continue reading}

Russian River Watershed Protection Committee v. City of Santa Rosa
142 F.3d 1136 (9th Cir. 1998)
In this case, the Ninth Circuit denied standing to a citizens' group that claimed that the City of Santa Rosa, California, was violating provisions of its permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) of the Clean Water Act... {Continue reading}

San Francisco BayKeeper v. Whitman
297 F.3d 877 (9th Cir. 2002)
Appealing the district court's dismissal of its claim, San Francisco BayKeeper (BayKeeper), an environmental group, argued to the Ninth Circuit that the State of California had failed both to determine total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), and to implement a TMDL... {Continue reading}

San Francisco BayKeeper, Inc. v. Tosco Corp.
309 F.3d 1153 (9th Cir. 2002), cert. dismissed, 123 S. Ct. 2296 (2003)
San Francisco BayKeeper (BayKeeper) filed a citizen suit against Tosco Corporation and Diablo Services Corporation (collectively Tosco) claiming that Tosco violated the Clean Water Act (CWA)[1] by illegally discharging petroleum coke into New York Slough, which flows into the San... {Continue reading}

San Francisco Baykeeper v. Cargill Salt
No. 04-17554 (9th Cir., Mar. 8, 2007)
Because this new 9th Circuit decision has not yet been summarized in a case review by the ELAW staff and is only available in PDF format (here), please use this page for adding comments about the decision.... {Continue reading}

Save Our Sonoran v. Flowers
381 F.3d 905 (9th Cir. 2004)
Save Our Sonoran Inc. (SOS) challenged a section 404 permit href="#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title="">[1] issued by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) under the Clean Water Act (CWA),[2] and an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact... {Continue reading}

Sierra Club v. Whitman
268 F.3d 898 (9th Cir. 2001)
The Ninth Circuit held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not have a mandatory duty to make findings when provided with information regarding violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA).[1] Furthermore, EPA does not have a mandatory enforcement duty... {Continue reading}

Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
486 F.3d 638 (9th Cir. 2007)
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, the Sierra Club and Lynn Canal Conservation (collectively SEACC) appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment for Coeur Alaska, Inc. (Coeur Alaska), alleging that the permit issued to Coeur Alaska by the United States... {Continue reading}

Tillamook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
288 F.3d 1140 (9th Cir. 2002)
Tillamook County (the County) sought to enjoin the Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) from issuing a permit under section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA)[1] to the City of McMinnville (the City) to enlarge its municipal water supply... {Continue reading}

United States v. Hagberg
207 F.3d 569 (9th Cir. 2000).
In 1997, Jamie Hagberg pumped sewage material from the septic tank of a local tavern and subsequently disposed of the sewage material along a 1.6-mile stretch of road near Lavina, Montana. Hagberg was indicted for violating section 1345 of the... {Continue reading}

United States v. Iverson
162 F.3d 1015 (9th Cir. 1998)
Appellant Iverson appealed a conviction of four counts of violating the Clean Water Act (CWA),[1] the Washington Administrative Code (WAC), and the City of Olympia's Municipal Code (Olympia code). He also appealed the conviction of one count of conspiring to... {Continue reading}

Washington Toxics Coalition v. E.P.A.
413 F.3d 1024 (9th Cir. 2005)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and various intervenors including CropLife America, Washington State Farm Bureau, and thirty-five other groups involved in the pesticide industry appealed the district court's order to suspend authorization of fifty-four pesticides, until EPA complied with the Endangered... {Continue reading}

Waste Action Project v. Dawn Mining Corp.
137 F.3d 1426 (9th Cir. 1998)
Waste Action Project (WAP), an environmental group, brought suit against Dawn Mining Corporation (Dawn), alleging that the mining company was violating the Clean Water Act (CWA)[1] by discharging pollutants without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Between 1957... {Continue reading}

WaterKeepers Northern California v. AG Industrial Manufacturing Inc.
375 F.3d 913 (9th Cir. 2004), cert. denied, 125 S. Ct. 869 (2005)
WaterKeepers Northern California (WaterKeepers) sued AG Industrial Manufacturing (AG Industrial), alleging discharges in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA).[1] The district court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, concluding WaterKeepers' intent-to-sue letter did not provide sufficient notice of its claims.... {Continue reading}