Key Tronic Corporation v. United States

30 F.3d 1105 24 Envtl. L. Rep. 21 ,282 KEY TRONIC CORPORATION, a Washington Corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. UNITED STATES of America; United States Department of the Air Force; Donald B. Rice, Secretary of the United States Air Force, in his official capacity, Defendants-Appellants. No. 91-36021. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. July 21, 1994. On Remand from the United States Supreme Court. Before: SNEED and ALARCON, Senior Circuit Judges, and CANBY, Circuit Judge. Opinion by Judge ALARCON. ALARCON, Circuit Judge: 1 The district court awarded Key Tronic Corporation (Key Tronic) a total of $155,500 in attorney's fees in this private response recovery action filed pursuant to section 107(a)(4)(B) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The district court concluded that section 107(a)(4)(B) authorized the payment of attorney's fees as "necessary costs of response." The district court awarded attorney's fees for three categories of legal services: (1) attorney's fees incurred in identifying other parties who were potentially responsible for the clean up costs; (2) attorney's fees incurred in negotiating a consent decree…