The court rules that the Secretary of Transportation properly determined under §4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act that alternatives to widening a North Carolina highway through a historic neighborhood were not prudent. The court first rules that the Secretary properly determined that non...

The court holds that the doctrines of primary jurisdiction and ripeness bar a landowner's action challenging the Army Corps of Engineers' determination that the landowner's property is a "wetland" or "water of the United States" under §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA). The Cor...

The court holds that a project by the state of New Mexico, the county of Bernalillo, and the city of Albuquerque to construct two bridges across the Rio Grande River is not subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The project does not constitute a major federal action. Although the s...

The court sentences a defendant to four years' probation for failure to report disposal of hazardous waste in violation of §103 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Defendant, former commissioner of an airport, ordered drums of paint residues disposed of in ...

The court holds that a third-party defendant in an action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for recovery of cleanup costs at the B & L Landfill in Milton, Washington, is not entitled to summary judgment. The parties do not contest that the B...

On certification from a federal district court, the Massachusetts Supreme Court holds that the "sudden and accidental" exception to the pollution exclusion clause in a comprehensive general liability insurance policy has a temporal element, and a release of pollutants must occur abruptly for the exc...

The court holds that a potentially responsible party (PRP) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act lacks standing to allege that a Navy and Department of the Interior plan to clean up hazardous waste at a naval station violates the Endangered Species Act (ESA)...

The court holds that the parent corporation of a defunct textile company is liable under the Comprehensive Environmental, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for the government's cleanup costs in responding to a spill of trichloroethylene (TCE) at the textile plant. The court first rules that a...

The court enjoins cutting on portions of ancient forests in Alaska's Tongass National Forest until the Forest Service adequately considers all reasonable alternatives and cumulative impacts in its supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) required under the National Environmental Policy Act...

The court holds that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) does not require the filing of an environmental impact statement for proposed extensions to a light rail project in Baltimore. The court holds that an Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) grant for preliminary studies of th...