The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), patterned after NEPA, applies to a city's project to acquire land for the proposed Palmdale airport, even though acquisition was instituted prior to passage of the Act. Acquisition may continue, but demolition and construction cannot begin until the c...

NEPA does not apply to an ongoing Urban Renewal Plan approved by HUD in 1967 even though the loan interest rate and funding grant of the project were increased after January 1, 1970, since this did not constitute major federal action. NEPA was not intended to apply retroactively where the federal go...

NEPA applies to an ongoing Urban Renewal Plan approved by HUD in 1967 if there has been major federal action since 1970, or if HUD can exercise discretionary power under the basic contract to significantly alter the course or timing of the development, or if there is a reasonable expectation of furt...

The Supreme Court upholds a Florida statute that imposes strict liability for any damage incurred by the state or private persons from oil spills in the state's territorial waters. The statute covers spills resulting from any waterfront facility used for drilling oil or handling the transfer or stor...

The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency erred in approving the air pollution implementation plans submitted by Rhode Island and Massachusetts in satisfaction of Clean Air Act requirements. The court finds the Rhode Island plan deficient because (1) it fails to provide for required r...

The absence of formalized permit procedures does not relieve polluters of the necessity of obtaining permission from the Secretary of the Army before discharging pollutants in violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. The Supreme Court holds that the Act's prohibitions apply to all discharges...

The 1972 Amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to allot among the states the entire $11 billion authorized by Congress for fiscal years 1973 and 1974. All orders and regulations directing the impoundment of portions of ...

The Fifth Circuit modifies the decision of the district court, which ordered the defendant Moretti to remove 400,000 cubic yards of dredge and fill material, because he had not obtained the necessary permit under §3 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. Despite Moretti's flagrant violation of the ...

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, providing that discharges of pollutants generally do not violate the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 if an application for a permit to discharge has been requested and not yet acted upon, do not relieve a polluter of liability under the 1899...

Although the Department of Transportation fully complied with its guidelines for implementing NEPA, the court enjoins a highway location hearing because the Department failed to meet the stricter public hearing procedures provided by the applicable federal highway statute. The highway statute is imp...