Backcountry Against Dumps v. Environmental Protection Agency
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
100 F.3d 147 (1996)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (defendant) promulgated regulations for solid-waste landfills pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Unlike other federal statutes, which treated Native American tribes as states, RCRA treated tribes as municipalities. A small California tribe, the Campo Band of Mission Indians, applied for EPA approval of a permitting plan for a landfill that would be located on the tribe’s reservation. The EPA approved the plan. Donna Tisdale (plaintiff), a non-Indian resident of the area bordering the proposed landfill, and a group called Backcountry Against Dumps (Backcountry) (plaintiff) petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for review of the EPA decision. More specifically, Tisdale and Backcountry challenged the EPA’s authority to approve tribal permitting plans under RCRA.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Tatel, J.)
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