Ohio v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior

Under CERCLA, the Department of the Interior (DOI) (defendant) issued regulations setting natural-resource damages at the lesser of restoration/replacement cost or diminished use value; because restoration often costs more than lost-use value, the rule frequently produced awards insufficient to actually restore contaminated sites. States, environmental groups, and industry parties (plaintiffs) challenged the rule from different directions — the former arguing it undervalued harm, the latter arguing it encouraged excessive damages — and after Congress passed SARA requiring DOI to amend its regulations, a consolidated challenge to the amended rules reached the D.C. Circuit.