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Agency Deference and Natural Resources Damages

A few weeks ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decided a natural resources damages case under the Oil Pollution Act with some interesting implications for NRD claims generally. See United States v. Ernst Jacob GmbH & Co., No. 23-1969 (1st Cir. Oct. 23, 2025). Those few who read this column regularly will recall that in September I considered an NRD case under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation v. Teck Cominco Metals, No. 24-5565 (9th Cir. Sept. 3, 2025). We have precious few litigated NRD cases at all, so to have two appellate decisions in two months is rare and worth noting.

LINKS

Read “Agency Deference and Natural Resources Damages,” authored by David G. Mandelbaum, on The Legal Intelligencer website.

Click the media link below to download the PDF.

*The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Greenberg Traurig or its clients.