Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian

Decided April 20, 2020. John Glover Roberts Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 17-1498 · 590 U.S. 1 (2020) · Cited 93 times

Holding

The Montana Supreme Court erred by holding that respondent landowners were not potentially responsible parties under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and thus did not need the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval to take remedial action.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Tafflin v. Levitt · 493 U.S. 455 (1990)
• Gunn v. Minton · 568 U.S. 251 (2013)
• United States v. Atlantic Research Corp. · 551 U.S. 128 (2007)
• Whitehouse v. Illinois Central Railroad · 349 U.S. 366 (1955)
• Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment · 523 U.S. 83 (1998)
• Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp. · 458 U.S. 419 (1982)
• Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc. · 531 U.S. 457 (2001)
• Andresen v. Maryland · 427 U.S. 463 (1976)
• Gustafson v. Alloyd Co. · 513 U.S. 561 (1995)
• Vaden v. Discover Bank · 556 U.S. 49 (2009)
• Verlinden B. v. v. Central Bank of Nigeria · 461 U.S. 480 (1983)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)
• American Well Works Company v. Layne and Bowler Company · 241 U.S. 257 (1916)
• Webster v. Fall · 266 U.S. 507 (1925)
• Arlington Central School District Board of Education v. Murphy · 548 U.S. 291 (2006)
• Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Aviall Services, Inc. · 543 U.S. 157 (2004)
• American Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Central Office Telephone, Inc. · 524 U.S. 214 (1998)
• Fisher v. District Court of the Sixteenth Judicial District of Montana · 424 U.S. 382 (1976)
• Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. United States · 556 U.S. 599 (2009)
• Puerto Rico Department of Consumer Affairs v. Isla Petroleum Corp. · 485 U.S. 495 (1988)
• Reiter v. Sonotone Corp. · 442 U.S. 330 (1979)
• Nat'l Labor Relations Bd. v. SW Gen., Inc. · 580 U.S. 288 (2017)
• Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. United States · 585 U.S. 274 (2018)
• Rimini Street, Inc. v. Oracle USA, Inc. · 586 U.S. 334 (2019)
• Cyan, Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund · 583 U.S. 416 (2018)
• Sturgeon v. Frost · 587 U.S. 28 (2019)
• Virginia Uranium, Inc. v. Warren · 587 U.S. 761 (2019)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Reiter v. Sonotone Corp. · 442 U.S. 330 (1979)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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John Glover Roberts Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2020). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).