Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court has shown a willingness to review environmental disputes. The Court’s new term, which opened on Oct. 6, 2008, is no exception, with six different cases raising environmental issues currently set for consideration. In this Emerging Issues Commentary, Steven Jones of the Marten Law Group discusses the wide range of environmental issues the Court will tackle in these cases.  Mr. Jones writes:

“The first four were accepted for certiorari during the prior term: Summers v. Earth Island Institute, where the U.S. Forest Service sought certiorari to review the Ninth Circuit’s injunction prohibiting the Service from excluding certain actions from administrative appeals and notice and comment procedures; Winter v. NRDC, which involves the Navy’s use of medium frequency sonar with possible adverse affects on marine mammals and the appropriate standard for preliminary injunctions in environmental cases; Entergy v. EPA, which poses the question of whether EPA may use a cost-benefit analysis for evaluating whether utilities must install new technology to protect fish and other aquatic life; and Couer Alaska v. SEACC, which requires the Court to choose between competing regimes under the Clean Water Act for the regulation of discharges of mining spoils into navigable waters.

“On October 1, 2008, in anticipation of the upcoming term, the Court issued orders granting certiorari in two additional cases: Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. United States and Shell Oil Co. v. United States and United States v. Navajo Nation. The Burlington Northern and Shell Oil cases, which were consolidated by the Court, present the question of whether passive landowners and arrangers may be held jointly and severally liable under CERCLA if there is evidence that would indicate that apportionment of liability was appropriate. The Navajo Nation case involves the government's fiduciary responsibility to Indian tribes relating to mining rights on tribal land and whether a prior decision by the Court forecloses the United States’ liability under the common law of trust and the Indian Tucker Act.”

Mr. Jones then presents a synopsis of each of the cases set for review.

Subscribers to www.lexis.com may read the details of all of these cases by purchasing Mr. Jones’ entire expert commentary at Marten Law Group: Supreme Court Set to Decide Major Environmental Law Cases.