Last month's ELR reported the decision of the District Court for the District of Columbia in City of New York v. Ruckelshaus,¹ ordering the Administrator of EPA to allot among the states the entire sum authorized by Congress for water quality improvement under the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972. The ruling invalidates the Administrator's December 1972 order, issued at the direction of the president, by which no more than $2 billion of the $5 billion authorized under FWPCA for fiscal 1972, and $3 billion of the $6 billion authorized for fiscal 1973, could be allotted. Once an allotment to a state is made, applications for grants for the construction of sewage treatment facilities may be acted upon by the Administrator.

The ruling represents a victory for proponents of environmental improvement. It also constitutes another in a series of courtroom triumphs for Congress in its continuing battle with the Nixon Administration over the "impoundment" of funds.² In fact, the Administration has yet to score its first success in the courts on the impoundment issue.