The court upholds the West Virginia Hazardous Chemical Substances Act (HCSA), a "right-to-know" law, against state and federal constitutional challenges but strikes regulations promulgated under the Act for procedural flaws. Addressing the constitutional challenges, the court holds that the title of...

The court rules that a state denial of water quality compliance certification under §401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) for a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit for Navy "discharges" of ordnance into Puerto Rico's coastal waters is reviewable in feder...

The court certifies for interlocutory appeal its ruling, 12 ELR 20915, that Philadelphia may claim damages under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act from a generator whose hazardous wastes were illegally dumped in a city landfill. The court rules that certificat...

The court deniesan injunction against a timber sale in a national forest roadless area, finding that the Forest Service (USFS) did not significantly violate its regulations and that plaintiffs are estopped from raising National Environmental Policy Act issues addressed five years earlier in an admin...

The court holds that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) denial of a request to institute licensing proceedings is not reviewable in the courts of appeals under §189 of the Atomic Energy Act (AEA). The court first limits its review to NRC's action on the request, noting that petitioner's ot...

The court rules that whether a hazardous waste disposal facility had obtained all necessary state environmental permits to qualify for interim status under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is a question of state law that the federal district court should have abstained from hearing....

The court rules that the Corps of Engineers' denial of a Federal Water Pollution Control Act §404 permit to fill a borrow pit was arbitrary and capricious and amounted to a taking of property without compensation. The pit in question is connected by a ditch to a tidal creek and contains subtidal la...

The court rules that the Gateway National Recreation Area Act compels the Secretary of the Interior to include unused portions of Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island in the recreation area, and that the Army complied with both the Gateway Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it tran...

The court holds that the state Natural Resources Council may add conditions to an after-the-fact floodplain construction permit to protect the stream and associated wildlife. The lower court had held that the Council's only remedy was to seek abatement of the construction. First, the court determine...

The court rules that two state regulations aimed at controlling fugitive dust emissions from roads are unconstitutional. The first regulation, requiring a road owner to take reasonable precautions to prevent generation of dust, is unconstitutionally vague because persons of common intelligence would...