The Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) under the Commerce Clause and Fifth and Tenth Amendments. The Court first finds that Congress rationally determined that regulation of surface coal mining is necessary to protect interstate comm...

Reversing the district court, 10 ELR 20613, the Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the "prime farmland," "approximate original contour," and other provisions of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The district court concluded that surface coal mining has little advers...

The court upholds the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) decision to regulate motor homes as "medium and heavy trucks" for purposes of the Noise Control Act of 1972. EPA had issued noise emission control standards pursuant to §6(a) of the Act applicable to medium and heavy trucks, including ...

The court rules that §204(b) of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act bars recovery under §311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) for cleanup costs due to an oil spill caused by a third party. The pipeline owners sought recovery from the United States for repair and oil remov...

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirms orders issued by the district court (1) requiring the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission to restore deleted budget funds for acquisition of a sludge disposal site in Montgomery County, Maryland and (2) enjoining related state court proceedings impeding ...

Reversing a decision of the Supreme Court of California, 10 ELR 20862, the United States Supreme Court invalidates on First Amendment grounds a San Diego billboard ordinance prohibiting, with some exceptions, off-site commercial advertising and noncommercial signs. In the view of a four-member plura...

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals joins the Third, Fifth, Ninth, and District of Columbia Circuits, 9 ELR 20316, 20311, 10 ELR 20985, 20963, in setting aside the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) designation of nonattainment areas pursuant to §107(d) of the Clean Air Act for failure to ad...

The Connecticut Supreme Court upholds municipal regulations restricting activities that affect wetlands, including operations and uses occurring outside the physical boundaries of wetlands and watercourses. Defendant, a municipal wetlands agency for the town of Redding, enacted regulations pursuant ...

The court rules that due to enactment of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) no longer needs to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) with respect to Phase 2 of its Hydro-Thermal Power Program (HTPP). The court had p...

The court affirms a district court determination that a boiler installed by the appellant municipal uility is a "new source" under §111(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act and therefore is subject to new source performance standards (NSPS) promulgated under the Act. The utility executed a purchase contract ...