Center for Community Action & Environmental Justice v. BNSF Railway Co.

In this case, we must decide whether the citizen-suit provision of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)), 42 U.S.C. §§ 6901 -6992k, may be used to enjoin the emission from Defendants’ railyards of particulate matter found in diesel exhaust. RCRA’s citizen-suit provision permits “any person” to sue the owner or operator of a solid waste treatment, storage, or disposal facility if the owner or operator “has contributed or ... is contributing to the past or present handling, storage, treatment, transportation, or disposal of any solid or hazardous waste which may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment.” 42 U.S.C. § 6972 (a)(1)(B). We conclude that Defendants’ emission of diesel particulate matter does not constitute “disposal” of solid waste within the meaning of RCRA, and that Plaintiffs therefore cannot state a plausible claim for relief under § 6972(a)(1)(B). We therefore affirm the district court’s judgment.

I.

Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Companies (collectively, “Defendants”) own and operate sixteen railyards in the State of California. On or near those…