Rejecting Suit, D.C. Circuit Backs EPA On Dropped CERCLA Mine Rule

A federal appeals court has rejected environmentalists’ lawsuit attempting to force EPA to set first-time Superfund financial assurance rules for the hardrock mining sector after the agency declined to do so, with the court applying the Chevron deference standard to uphold EPA’s decision. In a unanimous opinion issued July 19 in Idaho Conservation League, et al. v. Andrew Wheeler , a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected arguments from six environmental...