Atlantic Richfield v. Christian

1. This Court has jurisdiction to review the Montana Supreme Court’s decision. To qualify as a final judgment subject to review under 28 U. S. C. §1257(a), a state court judgment must be “an effective determination of the litigation and not of merely interlocutory or intermediate steps therein.” Jefferson v. City of Tarrant , 522 U. S. 75, 81. Under Montana law, a supervisory writ proceeding is a self-contained case, not an interlocutory appeal. Mont. Const., Art. VII, §§2(1)–(2); Mont. Rules App. Proc. 6(6), 14(1), 14(3). Thus, the writ issued in this case is a “final judgment” within this Court’s jurisdiction. 2. The Act does not strip the Montana courts of jurisdiction over this lawsuit. Section 113(b) of the Act provides that “the United States district courts shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over all controversies arising under this chapter,” so state courts lack jurisdiction over such actions. The use of “arising under” in §113(b) echoes Congress’s more familiar use of that phrase in granting federal courts jurisdiction over “all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.” 28 U. S. C. §1331. 3. The Montana Supreme Court erred by holding that the landowners were not potentially responsible parties under the Act and thus did not need EPA approval to take remedial action. To determine who is a potentially responsible party, the Court looks to the list of “covered persons” in §107, the Act’s liability section, which includes any “owner” of “a facility.” “Facility” in turn is defined to include “any site or area where a hazardous substance has been deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed, or otherwise come to be located.” 42 U. S. C. §9601(9)(B). 390 Mont. 76, 408 P. 3d 515, affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded.

The case returns to the Montana Supreme Court to proceed under the Supreme Court's ruling. Any remedial cleanup action sought by the landowners requires EPA approval.