This month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in Confederated Tribes of the Colville Rsrv. v. Teck Cominco Metals Ltd, No. 24-5565, 2025 WL 2525853 (9th Cir. Sept. 3, 2025) that CERCLA permits recovery of natural resource damages with a cultural use component, effectively reversing the district court’s holding that cultural resource damages are not authorized under CERCLA. Read More »

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On June 30, 2025, the Supreme Court denied the Port of Tacoma (the “Port”) and SSA Terminals LLC's (“SSA”) petition for writ of certiorari to review the 9^th Circuit’s decision in Port of Tacoma v. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance addressing whether the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) authorizes citizens to enforce conditions of state-issued pollutant discharge permits adopted under state law that impose a greater scope of coverage than required by the CWA.  The 9th Circuit answered this question in the affirmative, holding that Washington's Industrial Stormwater General Permits (“ISGP”), a CWA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permit, required the Port and SSA to have the necessary stormwater controls across the entire West Sitcum Terminal (the “Terminal”).  The Supreme Court's recent decision to deny certiorari leaves litigants open to a patchwork of Circuit determinations on the scope of the CWA’s citizen suit provision.  Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Citizen Suit, Citizens Suit, Clean Water Act, Ninth Circuit, NPDES, Permits, Private Right of Action, Stormwater, Supreme Court, United States Supreme Court, Water