The court issues a preliminary injunction to enjoin enforcement of orders issued pursuant to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) against a coal tipple that operates independently of a surface coal mine. Plaintiff operated both a surface coal mine and a coal tipple at the same loca...

The court upholds the constitutionality of Florida's Air and Water Pollution Control Act. The Act, which makes it a crime to cause pollution that harms human, animal, or plant life, is not unconstitutionally vague because it defines pollution in commonly used words that put persons of common intelli...

The court rules that the State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) properly issued two national pollution discharge elimination system (NPDES) permits requiring compliance with federal and state secondary sewage treatment requirements prior to the July 1, 1977, deadline established by the Federal ...

The court rules that the Secretary of the Interior's failure to act on outstanding oil and gas lease applications in wilderness study areas in national forests constitutes a withdrawal of these lands from the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (MLA) under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA)....

The district court rules that although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) erroneously paid to plaintiff state agency sewage treatment works construction funds actually owed to defendant municipality, the Eleventh Amendment requires that defendant's counterclaim for damages be denied. The Penn...

The Sixth Circuit Vacates an injunction issued by the district court prohibiting the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing the Emission Control System Performance Warranty Regulations, ruling that only the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals has jurisdiction t...

The court approves a consent judgment enjoining Hooker Chemicals & Plastics Corp. from further disposal of toxic substances at its manufacturing facility in Montague, Michigan and requiring Hooker to pay civil penalties and monetary damages to the state of Michigan for injuries caused by the con...

Reversing the judgment of the lower court, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals holds that plaintiffs have standing to challenge the demolition of historic buildings for a federally assisted development project. Plaintiffs, five neighborhood organizations, sought to enjoin federal funding of the proje...

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals declines to rule upon the legality of compliance orders issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directing that petitioners prevent future releases of vinyl chloride from their industrial facilities, concluding that the issues are not ripe for review. Th...

The First Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing a district court judgment, holds that the Maine Traveler Information Services Act, which abolishes billboards completely and decreases significantly the number, size, and content of all other signs viewable from public highways, unconstitutionally abridg...