Vacaville and RCRA Update

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed its prior decision in a case involving liability under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) by the city of Vacaville, California, for transporting and discarding hexavalent chromium while providing drinking water to residents. It appeared to be a novel expansion of RCRA liability to the act of supplying drinking water that met all applicable drinking water standards.