The court rules that the public trust doctrine renders defendant state agency powerless to permit landfilling of estuarine waters unless the proposed fill is for a water-related activity. This challenge to defendant's issuance of a permit to extend an airport runway into a state-owned estuary follow...

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals determines that a programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared in connection with a proposed urban rapid transit rail system satisfies the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) without the preparation of additional site-specific...

The court reverses the lower court's invalidation of a section of the State Administrative Code under which plaintiff state agency claimed authority to regulate the use of state recreational lands for business or commercial purposes. The trial court erred in determining that the provision is an unco...

Affirming the lower court's decision, 8 ELR 20333, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals adopts the district court's conclusion that multiple bird deaths resulting from a single transaction cannot be separately charged under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
For a discussion of recent prosecutions under ...

Granting plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction against a channel improvement project, the court finds that the project not comply with the criteria under §216 of the Flood Control Act of 1950 limiting the expenditure of funds to certain emergency situations. The court first holds that the...

The court enjoins the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from instituting enforcement proceedings against a utility for violating sulfur oxide emissions limitations in the Missouri state implementation plan pending resolution of the utility's application to the state for a variance from the sulfu...

The Minnesota Supreme Court reverses the district court's affirmance of the Minnesota Environmental Quality Council's issuance of a construction permit for a proposed high voltage transmission line (HVTL). Plaintiffs, owners of property adjacent to the designated corridor, sought injunctive relief v...

In a suit challenging the Army Corps of Engineers' assertion of regulatory jurisdiction over an intrastate lake and its outlet creek, the court rules that the lake and creek, although both navigable in fact, are not navigable waters of the United States within the meaning of §10 of the Rivers and H...

Affirming the lower court's dismissal of criminal charges under the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals holds that the Act does not apply to interstate transportation of clams harvested in violation of state law. Defendants were charged under the Lacey Act with i...

The Second Circuit denies petitioner's request for review of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's denial of its petition for a rulemaking to determine whether the highly radioactive wastes generated by nuclear power reactors can be safely disposed of on a permanent basis. The petition filed with the ...