Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), The Clean Water Act's Citizen-Suit Provisions Authorize Private Judicial Actions To Compel Dischargers To Comply With Their Discharge Permits The Clean Water Act, like other federal environmental statutes, creates a federal-state partnership for developing environmental standards and providing for their enforcement. Get free summaries of new US Supreme Court opinions delivered to your inbox! at 320. 183). The relief the district court awarded-civil penalties calibrated to "provide adequate deterrence under the circumstances of this case" (Laidlaw II, 956 F. Supp. App. 81 Before the Subcomm. 33 U.S.C. III, 2. Among other things, the Act prohibits a facility from discharging pollutants into navigable waters unless the facility obtains a NPDES permit, which, among other things, establishes limits on the amounts of certain pollutants that may be discharged. Ask them, in public, for the background and experienceof the management for your local facility. 33 U.S.C. As Section 505(a) makes clear, a citizen may ask the district court to "apply any appropriate civil penalties under [Section 309(d), 33 U.S.C. Congress has since revised Section 505(d) to allow an award of litigation costs "to any prevailing or substantially prevailing party, whenever the court determines such award is appropriate." The Court's decision in Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103 (1992), which states that, "to qualify as a prevailing party, a civil rights plaintiff must obtain at least some relief on the merits of his claim," id. In addition, if the defendant knows that it faces the prospect of civil penalties as well as an injunction, it will not have an incentive to engage in "dilatory tactics" to prolong the litigation in the hope of eliminating the need for an injunction and then claiming that the citizen's claim for assessment of the accumulated civil penalties is moot. 7a n.3. Legal This Court's decision in Gwaltney rested on a determination that Congress intended to authorize citizens to initiate suit only to abate violations and compel compliance. Safety-Kleen provides cleaning services for parts and tools and is a processor of used lubricating oil. May 21, 2018. See Gwaltney, 484 U.S. at 65-66; id. 1995) (Laidlaw I) (J.A. E.g., County of Los Angeles, 440 U.S. at 631. 3078. Laidlaw moved for summary judgment on the ground that FOE lacked Article III standing to bring the lawsuit. at 760-761. Practically speaking, however, repeatedly opening and closing the same facility might not be a logical, cost-effective business choice. Web394 Virginia Environmental Law Journal [Vol. After Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. bought a wastewater treatment plant, it was granted a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Business Week said of these companies. Laidlaw Environmental Services - Overview, News - ZoomInfo at 601-610 (J.A. Ibid. The Fourth Circuit vacated the District Court's order and remanded with instructions to dismiss the action. Civil penalties, as an alternative to an injunction, would continue to be available unless it is "absolutely clear that the allegedly wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur." at 611 (J.A. In October 1991, Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. (LES LOKERN), noticed its intention to seek a conditional use permit and general plan amendment from Kern County to expand and modify its existing hazardous waste facility near the unincorporated town of Buttonwillow. at 477, 478-479 (J.A. (J.A. 182))-was designed to redress that specific interest by compelling compliance. 1997) (Laidlaw II) (J.A. As of 2007, Transquest was continuing bus contract operations transporting students to many independent schools in South Hampton Roads, including Norfolk Academy. Laidlaw Environmental Services Pet. Laidlaw II, 956 F. Supp. Compare pay See CWA 309(b) and (c), 33 U.S.C. In this case, unlike Gwaltney and Steel Co., it is clear that, even after the citizen plaintiffs filed suit, the defendant continued to violate environmental requirements. Laidlaw II, 956 F. Supp. 1365(c)(2). at 595, 619-621 (J.A. Laidlaw Environmental Services is a renewables & environment company based out of 4101 Washington Ave, Newport News, Virginia, United States. 123.1 et seq. 33 U.S.C. 182), but it refused to issue an "injunction or other form of equitable relief" in light of "the fact that Laidlaw is now and has for an extended period of time been in compliance with its permit," ibid. Congress accordingly enacted Section 505 of the Clean Water Act, which empowers citizens who are adversely affected by permit violations to bring civil enforcement actions to compel compliance. 1311(a), 1342. See Laidlaw I, 890 F. 2d at 478-479 (J.A. 1365(d)). The NPDES permit limited Laidlaw's discharges of numerous pollutants and required Laidlaw to monitor and report its discharges. 183). 1365(a); W.T. Pp.180-195. Id. 1. Brought on behalf of the Ohio Public Interest Research Group and the Ohio Environmental Council, our lawsuit focused on Laidlaws years of repeated, illegal discharges of heavy metals into the [] Cadence developed the use of Chem-Fuel using industrial wastes to replace the use of non-renewable resources as fuels for use in cement kilns. A plaintiff prevails on the "merits of his claim" if a court finds that the defendant, in direct response to the plaintiff's suit, has altered his behavior in a way that renders the claim moot as a matter of law. 482 U.S. at 760. Fined $214,000 for four hazardous waste violations: improper disposal ofinfectious waste, inadequate treatment of sewer sludge, insufficient testingof debris and soil, and excessive contamination of waste at its landfill.As one top agency official put it, "Laidlaw must be more diligent in itsoperations.". In February 2007, FirstGroup, a bus and rail transportation operator in the United Kingdom with subsidiaries in North America, acquired Laidlaw International, Inc.[1][2][3] FirstGroup completed the acquisition of Laidlaw International on October 1, 2007, and rebranded Laidlaw services under the First umbrella. Laidlaw also has operated landfills and hazardous waste incinerators among 106-136). City of Mesquite, 455 U.S. at 289 n.10 (quoting Concentrated Phosphate Export Ass'n, 393 U.S. at 203, and W.T. WebHistorically Laidlaw Waste and Laidlaw Environmental Services have been subsidiaries of Laidlaw, Inc., which in turn is a 47.5% owned subsidiary of Canadian Pacific. at 477 (J.A. Gwaltney, 484 U.S. at 66 (quoting Concentrated Phosphate Export Ass'n, 393 U.S. at 203) (emphasis added by the Court in Gwaltney). Fined $10,000 for lime blowing out of a storage vent in October 1995. Grant Co., 345 U.S. at 633, 635-636 ("although the actions were not moot, no abuse of discretion has been demonstrated in the trial court's refusal to award injunctive relief"); see generally City of Mesquite, 455 U.S. at 289. 1342(a). . The company later sold American Medical Response and EmCare, its EMS contract operations, to new owners. The LAIDLAW ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, INC. principal address is 1301 GERVAIS STREET, SUITE 300, COLUMBIA, SC, 29201. See CWA 505(a), 33 U.S.C. Laidlaw (/ledl/), organized as Laidlaw International, Inc. (with corporate headquarters in Naperville, Illinois) was the largest provider of intercity bus services, contract public transit and paratransit, and contract school bus service in both the United States and Canada. Pt. The court also found that Laidlaw had committed 420 monitoring violations, including 13 post-complaint violations, and that Laidlaw had committed 503 reporting violations, including ten post-complaint violations. As the Court has explained: "Mere voluntary cessation of allegedly illegal conduct does not moot a case; if it did, the courts would be compelled to leave '[t]he defendant . TES has developed and sustained partnerships with thousands of clients including petrochemical facilities, manufacturing facilities, shipyards, offshore facilities, chemical plants, hospitals, and Finally, we show why the court of appeals erred in holding that, because the district court denied injunctive relief, the petitioners' enforcement action is moot.4 A. WebLaidlaw (/ l e d l /), organized as Laidlaw International, Inc. (with corporate headquarters in Naperville, Illinois) was the largest provider of intercity bus services, contract public The court then requested and received, through a brief amicus curiae, the views of the United States on that issue. Because the Fourth Circuit was persuaded that the case had become moot, it simply assumed that FOE had initial standing. at 716 n.21 (collecting cases). 123.27. 1319(d)]" to deter future violations. See Gwaltney, 484 U.S. at 66-67. Required to pay into a trust fund, to total $133 million cash in the year2004, to cover any clean-up costs. The court declined to order injunctive relief because Laidlaw, after the lawsuit began, had achieved substantial compliance with the terms of its permit. WebLaidlaw Environmental Services | 17 followers on LinkedIn. See Comfort Lake Ass'n v. Dresel Contracting, Inc., 138 F.3d 351, 356 (8th Cir. In 2019, ECOS is celebrating its 15th year anniversary due to our highly regarded customer service. (TOC), Inc., 890 F. Supp. FOE appealed as to the amount of the District Court's civil penalty judgment, but did not appeal the denial of declaratory or injunctive relief. Words: Standing, Environment & Other Contested Terms 1365(a)) in citizen suits specifically to facilitate that objective. [6] Allied Waste sold the Canadian operations to USA Waste Services, Inc. Laidlaw American branches were re-branded to many different names, depending on their location. Web4 FRIENDS OF EARTH, INC. v. LAIDLAW ENVI-RONMENTAL SERVICES (TOC), INC. Opinion of the Court any good-faith efforts to comply with the applicable re-quirements, the economic impact of the penalty on the violator, and such other matters as justice may require. 1319(d). In October 1991, Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. (LES LOKERN), noticed its intention to seek a conditional use permit and general plan amendment from Kern County to expand and modify its existing hazardous waste facility The Court reasoned that Section 505(a)(1), which authorizes a citizen to sue persons "alleged to be in violation" of permit requirements (33 U.S.C. Whether a citizen plaintiff is barred from recovering litigation costs under Section 505(d) of the Clean Water Act if the citizen suit is dismissed as moot. Section 402(a) provides that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shall issue NPDES permits authorizing effluent discharges in strict compliance with conditions specified in the permit. Like the court of appeals (see note 3, supra), we assume, for purposes of resolving the mootness question, that Laidlaw's permit violations have caused petitioners injury in fact. 1365(d). Allied Waste SystemsAllied's Chief Executive Officer, Roger Ramsey, was the Vice Presidentand Chief Financial Officer for BFI from 1968 to 1976. It apparently saw no need to invoke the foregoing mootness principles, and it did not make specific findings on the question whether it was clear that Laidlaw's permit violations could not reasonably be expected to recur. 1993) (collecting cases and secondary sources). Laidlaw was fined only $10,000 dueto the $9 million they had already spent cleaning up the site.
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