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Beware The Cooperative Agreement

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 04.21.08

In Rick's Mushroom Service, Inc. (Apr. 2, 2008), the Federal Circuit held that a contractor who had a cooperative cost sharing agreement for mushroom waste remediation was out of luck when it followed defective government specifications and had to pay third parties close to $1 million for environmental violations. The Federal Circuit denied Rick's claims for indemnification, holding there was no Contract Disputes Act jurisdiction and that the Spearin doctrine, which provides that the government breaches an implied warranty when it supplies a contractor with defective specifications, was inapplicable because there was no procurement contract and because the doctrine does not extend to third-party claims.

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Client Alert | 6 min read | 07.10.25

Is there a Role Anymore for Supplemental Environmental Projects in Environmental Enforcement Settlements?

Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) are voluntary, environmental or public health projects that parties subject to environmental enforcement proceedings can propose as part of an administrative, civil, or criminal settlement. SEPs are unique and used specifically in environmental enforcement cases in part because (1) many environmental law statutes do not require a showing of harm to prove a violation; thus, redressing harm, outside of equitable relief, is not usually statutorily required; and (2) pollution is a public harm that is hard to redress, both individually and collectively....