The court holds that tort claims arising from alleged exposure to low levels of radioactivity are not preempted by the Atomic Energy Act (AEA), or barred by the political question doctrine, and that Missouri law may allow claims in strict liability for abnormally dangerous activities involving radia...

The court affirms a district court ruling that the Coast Guard arbitrarily and capriciously approved a permit for a causeway to Sears Island, Maine, by treating it as a bridge governed by the General Bridge Act rather than subjecting it to the applicable and more stringent conditions of the Rivers a...

The court holds that citizen suits may be brought under §505 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act only if the defendant is in violation of relevant effluent standards, limitations, or orders at the time the suit is filed. The court, following the Fifth Circuit's ruling in Hamker v. Diamond Sh...

The court holds that the state Hazardous Waste Management Commission's denial of a license to a hazardous waste transporter is not arbitrary and capricious. The Missouri hazardous waste control law applies to preenactment actions, and petitioner can be held responsible for its predecessors-in-intere...

The court rules that §3007(a) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to request information about a hazardous waste handler's preparation of responses to inquiries, transactions with its customers, and individual defendants' roles i...

In a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen suit, the court holds that discharges by defendant sewer authority in violation of its national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit created a nuisance at plaintiffs' lake and surrounding property and constituted a compensable...

The court holds that the decision by the Secretary of the Interior and the Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a final version of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) §1002 report to Congress on the impact of oil and gas development on the arctic coast and the accompanying ...

The court holds that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), Public Rangeland Improvement Act (PRIA), or Taylor Grazing Act in its preparation of a comprehensive grazing management plan for publ...

The court holds that a Montana statute, upon which a Lacey Act conviction is based, that forbids transport of raptors without a permit, is not unconstitutionally vague, but the government failed to meet its burden of proof for a conviction under the Endangered Species Act. The court first rules that...

The court holds that §17 of the Federal Noise Control Act preempts Delaware's stricter noise control statute and regulations regarding activities at an interstate railroad facility. Adopting the rationale of the district court decision, 15 ELR 20584, the court rules that the Noise Control Act preem...