After an application for a license is granted or an order is issued which then becomes final, the process is far from over. Instead, the process of implementing the order or using the license begins. Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") are given substantial authority in order to ensure that their orders are followed and licenses appropriately used through a system of enforcement and compliance procedures.
Environmental compliance takes a tremendous amount of paperwork. While you might expect that a refinery or a tannery would have to fill out forms regarding their pollutants, many small businesses are also required to provide lengthy and detailed reports.
[06/21]
Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms In an action challenging the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS) decision to approve the unconditional deregulation of Roundup Ready Alfalfa (RRA), a variety of alfalfa genetically engineered to tolerate the herbicide Roundup, the Ninth Circuit's affirmance of judgment for plaintiffs is reversed where: 1) plaintiffs had standing to seek injunctive relief, and defendants had standing to seek the Court's review of the Ninth Circuit's judgment affirming the entry of such relief; and 2) the district court abused its discretion in enjoining APHIS from effecting a partial deregulation and in prohibiting the planting of RRA pending the agency's completion of its detailed environmental review.
[06/18]
Tomlinson v. County of Alameda Trial court's denial of plaintiffs' petition for a writ of administrative mandate, challenging a decision of a county to approve a subdivision development is reversed as the project was not exempt from CEQA review as the county used the wrong legal standard in applying the exemption and substantial evidence does not show the proposed subdivision satisfied the exemption's criteria.
[06/17]
Curd v. Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC In a suit brought by fishermen against a defendant for negligently spilling pollutants and hazardous contaminants into a pond, the judgment of the Second District is quashed as commercial fishermen have both a statutory and common law cause of action for economic losses proximately caused by the negligent release of pollutants despite the fact that the fishermen do not own any property damages by the pollution.
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