In consolidated cases, the Ninth Circuit affirms, as modified for added breadth, two district court injunctions, 13 ELR 20887 and 14 ELR 20225, against the spraying of herbicides in certain federally managed forests in Oregon, and orders that some of the plaintiffs below be awarded attorney fees. Tu...

The court holds that a salt mining operation that has heavily polluted an aquifer used for domestic water supply and for irrigation is a continuing nuisance. The court holds that the salt plant is primarily a private nuisance, since the rights disturbed by the pollutants released are primarily the r...

The court rules that an employer that participated in preenforcement administrative and judicial review of Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) lead standards may not raise new objections to the standards in an enforcement action. The court in the past had allowed defendants in enforcement a...

The court rules that plaintiffs, who successfully challenged the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance of federal and state approvals of the Westway highway project in New York City, are entitled to attorney fees under the common-law bad-faith exception to the American Rule. The court ...

The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must act on its proposed standards under Clean Air Act §112 for radionuclides within 90 days. The court first grants the petition of the Idaho Mining Association to intervene in the case. It rules that the Association has the requisite ...

The court amends its order of July 25, 1984, 15 ELR 20080 to give the option of delisting radionuclides under §112 of the Clean Air Act in addition to the option of promulgating final hazardous air pollutant rules.
[Other decisions in this case are published at 15 ELR 20080 and 20101. Related deci...

The court holds that Federal Water Pollution Control Act §404(f)(1)'s agricultural exemption is to be construed narrowly to exempt only certain farming activities that do not reduce the size of wetlands or impede the circulation of water in wetlands. The owners of a cranberry farm containing the la...

The court holds that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) apparently violated neither the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) nor its own disclosure regulations in deciding to release a General Electric (GE) internal document that was submitted to it under subpoena during a licensing hearing, but r...

The court holds that the Corps of Engineers did not violate the consistency provision of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CMZA) in denying a Federal Water Pollution Control Act §404 fill permit, and that the Corps has jurisdiction over wetlands. Section 307(c)(1) of the CZMA does not prohibit Corps...

The court holds that neither the Endangered Species Act nor the Eagle Protection Act abrogated the federal treaty right of reservation Indians to hunt eagles and scissor-tailed flycatchers for noncommercial purposes. The court first establishes that Indian treaties are to be construed liberally in f...