Opinion ID: 183689
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Federal Legal Proceedings

Text: Chico filed the present suit, its third, in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico in April 2009. Brought under RCRA's citizen suit provision, 42 U.S.C. § 6972, the suit rests on three core allegations. First, Chico alleges that Sol is in ongoing violation of a number of Puerto Rico's UST regulations, including those that mandate reporting of a suspected release of contaminants, require investigation and remediation following such a release, and prohibit the contamination of underground sources of drinking water. Second, Chico alleges that conditions at the filling station may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to the environment or public health actionable under RCRA. Third, Chico alleges that Sol has disposed of or abandoned gasoline, diesel, and their constituents at the filling station in violation of RCRA's solid waste disposal requirements. The suit seeks civil penalties under RCRA, in addition to an order enjoining further releases at the site and requiring Sol to conduct whatever corrective or remedial actions are necessary. In accordance with RCRA's requirements, Chico provided pre-filing notice of its intent to file a citizen suit to Sol, the EQB, the regional and national EPA administrators, and the commonwealth and federal attorneys general via letter in October 2008. See 42 U.S.C. § 6972(b). RCRA requires such notice primarily to afford regulators a chance to initiate an enforcement suit or take other formal action to address the conditions targeted by the intended citizen suit; here, no such action was taken between October 2008 and the filing of suit the next April. Sol moved to dismiss within a month of the complaint's filing, proffering three alternative grounds for dismissal. Sol's leading argument was that RCRA's diligent prosecution bar, which precludes citizen suits where federal or state regulators are taking certain enumerated enforcement actions ( see 42 U.S.C. § 6972(b)(1)(B), (b)(2)(B), (b)(2)(C)), divested the court of subject matter jurisdiction over Chico's claims. Alternatively, Sol contended that Chico's claims were moot, and separately asked the court to abstain from hearing the suit under the Burford [9] and Colorado River [10] doctrines. In a December 2009 opinion and order, the district court granted dismissal under Burford. Among several compelling reasons to abstain cited by the district court were Puerto Rico's interest in uniform and coherent regulation of USTs and the availability of adequate judicial review of a final administrative decision under Puerto Rico law. Chico immediately moved for reconsideration, which the court denied. This timely appeal followed.