The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a district court and rules that Army Corps of Engineers permits issued pursuant to §10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act require strict compliance. The district court held that although appellee dredged a channel to a greater depth than specifically allowed b...

Affirming the lower court's decision, 9 ELR 20426, the court agrees that Hawaii's game management practice of allowing feral goats and sheep in the critical habitat of the endangered Palila bird constituted an unlawful "taking" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The feral animals destroy the Pa...

The court upholds the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) denial of an ocean-dumping permit under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act. Pursuant to the Act, EPA established several environmental impact criteria to be used in reviewing permit applications. Even if those criteria...

The court rules that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency illegally refused to entertain appellant's request for a hearing at which to demonstrate its entitlement to variances from Ohio air pollution control requirements. Although under OHIO REV. CODE ANN. §3704.03(H) the Agency is empowered to...

In a lengthy opinion, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejects a series of procedural and substantive challenges to the new source performance standards (NSPS) for coal-fired power plants adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to §112 of the Clean Air Act. The standards requ...

The district court rejects a request for a judgment declaring a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission disqualified from further participation in a licensing proceeding concerning the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Since Commissioner Hendrie held a private meeting with representatives of th...

The court rules that the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted properly in banning the use of diethylstilbestrol (DES) as an animal drug and in declining to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) prior to the ban. The Commissioner had withdrawn his approval of DES, as...

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the Interstate Commerce Commission's (ICC's) modification of the criteria applied in evaluating motor common carrier applications violates neither the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, nor ICC regulations...

The court affirms a jury award of $50,000 in compensatory damages and $127,000 in punitive damages to remedy a fish kill in the Cimarron River due to overflows of toxic chemicals from defendants' property. The verdict was based on the jury's finding that heavy rains flooded defendants' separating ta...

Affirming a district court, 9 ELR 20716, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acted reasonably in approving water quality standards for salinity adopted by seven states within the Colorado River Basin. The Environmental Defense Fund (...