The court affirms a district court decision that the U.S. Forest Service did not need to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental impact statement (EIS) before adopting the policies and procedural rules that excluded certain types of categorical exclusions (CEs) for timber harves...
The court holds that a district court abused its discretion during the Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation when it approved a plan of allocation that denied enforceability of a settlement agreement between Exxon and seven seafood processors and that barred the processors from receiving any allocation ...
The court affirms the dismissal of a hog farmer's complaint that alleged a taking of property by an Iowa city in violation of the Public Use Clauses of the U.S. and Iowa Constitutions. The farmer intended to use land bordering an airport for a hog manure lagoon. The city opposed the lagoon and recei...
The court holds that although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) withdrawal of a final administrative order (FAO) against an oil company rendered moot the oil company's appeal of a district court decision upholding the FAO, vacatur of the district court's order is not the proper reme...
The court holds that the exhaustion requirements of 43 C.F.R. §4.21(c) do not bar a district court from considering a colorable due process challenge to the procedures followed by the administrative law judge (ALJ) and the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA) in a pending Indian probate proceedi...
The court affirms a district court decision that the Federal Tort Claims Act's discretionary function exception barred an individual's suit against the United States to recover damages for injuries he suffered after a car ran over his tent while he was attending a festival held on federally owned la...
The court denies environmental groups' motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapon Stockpile Stewardship and Management (SSM) facilities, as well as activities or major upgrades to mission capability based on alleged violations of the National Env...
Editors' Summary: As Congress begins the second session of the 98th Congress, we assess both the results of the first session (see Comment, 14 ELR 10005) and the prospects for the second. For the latter task, a crystal-ball gazing exercise, we have enlisted the help of two of the sharpest-eyed observers of congressional trends available: Philip Cummings, Minority Counsel for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and Bud Ward, Editor of The Environmental Forum. Mr. Cummings analyzes the chances for Senate action; Mr. Ward those in the House.
Editors' Summary: As Congress begins the second session of the 98th Congress, we assess both the results of the first session (see Comment, 14 ELR 10005) and the prospects for the second. For the latter task, a crystal-ball gazing exercise, we have enlisted the help of two of the sharpest-eyed observers of congressional trends available: Philip Cummings, Minority Counsel for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and Bud Ward, Editor of The Environmental Forum. Mr. Cummings analyzes the chances for Senate action; Mr. Ward those in the House.
Editors' Summary: This Comment surveys the environmental activity of the first session of the 98th Congress. Congress' oversight of the executive branch contributed to headline-grabbing changes in the administration of federal programs. But while busy checking the initiatives of the Reagan Administration, Congress enacted no major new environmental laws, despite proposals before it in the areas of air quality, water quality, hazardous waste, toxics, nuclear energy, public lands, and natural resources.