A federal appellate court is teeing up a potentially precedential lower court ruling on whether the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) can be held liable under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for contributing to the disposal of solid waste through spent lead ammunition used by hunters in a national forest in Arizona. The case presents "questions of first impression pertaining to contributor liability" under RCRA, according to a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit summary of the ruling. The appellate court's May 30 decision reinstated litigation in Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), et al. v. USFS, reversing a district court ruling that had dismissed the suit for lack of jurisdiction and remanded it to the lower court for additional briefing on the merits. The lower court had dismissed the suit for lack of jurisdiction on the basis that the plaintiffs were seeking an advisory opinion, but the appellate court remanded the suit - which was brought under RCRA's citizen suit provision - back to the lower court. "The Center's suit satisfies the two requirements that distinguish justiciable controversies from request for advisory opinions," the 9th Circuit finds.
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