RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

March 2006

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Second Circuit Finds Environmental Group’s Article III Standing to Sue under the Clean Water Act Must Be Established before Dismissal for Lack of Statutory Standing
Alliance for Environmental Renewal, et al. v. Pyramid Crossgates Company, et al., ___F.3d___

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals found that a lower court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s claims of salt water contamination for lack of statutory standing was premature when the plaintiff’s jurisdictional standing had not yet been ascertained. The lower court held that salt was not a pollutant under the Clean Water Act (CWA), and therefore there was no statutory standing for the plaintiff to bring suit. The Second Circuit vacated the lower court ruling, holding that until the plaintiff’s Article III standing was ascertained, the ruling on the factual matter of whether there was statutory standing was premature.