The court affirms the Department of Environmental Regulation's (DER's) denial of a fill permit application filed by owners of partially submerged lots, holding that DER has broad discretion to interpret a statute to require a determination of the effects on wildlife of proposed fill projects. The co...

The court denies intervenor-defendants' motion to dismiss a suit challenging the adequacy of the environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared for the Garrison Diversion Unit because neither a stipulation staying the proceedings nor legislation appropriating funds for the project renders the case mo...

The D.C. Circuit rules that the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Department of the Interior's sale of leases for outer continental shelf (OCS) oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Alaska fails to comply with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), but the cour...

The court remands an Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) order authorizing construction of a railroad line for transportation of coal in the Powder River Basin because of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) violations, but refuses to invalidate the order and enjoin further construction. The ag...

The court affirms dismissal of the complaint in an action challenging Department of Transportation regulations requiring that urban mass transit or highway projects for which federal funding is sought be endorsed by designated metropolitan planning organizations as consistent with a long-range devel...

The court vacates a preliminary injunction against continued United States participation in construction of the Darien Gap Highway in Panama and Colombia after finding that the final environmental impact statement (EIS) adequately complies with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy A...

On review of two cases in which plaintiffs challenged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) licensing of two nuclear power plants, the Supreme Court unanimously reverses the court of appeals' invalidation of the licenses, announcing that the role of the judiciary in the nuclear licensing proce...

The Eighth Circuit affirms a district court's denial of a motion for a preliminary injunction against the relocation of personnel and equipment from Richards-Gebaur Air Base near Kansas City to Scott Air Base near St. Louis. Treating the case as an appeal on the merits, the court rules that the Air ...

A 1973 Minnesota statute, the Power Plant Siting Act (PPSA), vested regulatory jurisdiction over electric transmission line siting with the Minnesota Environmental Quality Council (MEQC), and included a grandfather clause exempting powerlines to be constructed prior to July 1, 1974, if application t...

On plaintiff's motion for summary judgment in an action brought by the federal government to condemn rights-of-way across defendant's land providing access to timber acreage, defendant may raise as a defense the government's alleged failure to comply with the requirements of the National Environment...