The district court denies plaintiffs' request for further discovery relating to the factual basis and recommendations of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's biological opinion examining the impact of defendants' activities on various threatened and endangered species. The First Circuit, 11 ELR 2039...
The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated the clear directive of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to promulgate a revised national contingency plan (NCP) and emergency response guidelines within specific deadlines. It fin...
The court holds that an environmental impact report (EIR) prepared for a proposed expansion of the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, fails to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). If finds the EIR's project description inadequate as failing to encompass the full...
The court rules that among a group of plaintiffs seeking to recover in maritime tort for indirect economic losses resulting from the closure of portions of Louisiana waterways to navigation and commercial fishing due to defendants' spill of toxic chemicals, only commercial fishermen who routinely op...
The court holds that an environmental impact statement (EIS) for a deepwater port to be constructed at Galveston under permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers complies with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Applying a "rule of reason," the court limits its review of the EIS to dete...
The court orders defendants to pay civil fines and provide mitigation areas as penalties for filling a mangrove wetland without a permit in violation of §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) and §10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. Defendant college hired defendant construction com...
The court dismisses a petition challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) failure to veto state issuance of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit to an industrial discharger or to withdraw its approval of Mississippi's assumption of permit issuing authority. T...
The court upholds a national pollution discharge elimination system permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) insofar as it requires best practicable technology (BPT) effluent limitations, as taken from an earlier consent decree in a Refuse Act enforcement suit, but vacates the addi...
Applying the Cappaert decision, 6 ELR 20540, the court affirms a district court ruling that the United States failed to reserve water rights in the Gila National Forest for recreational purposes. Under the implied reservation doctrine, the United States may claim only that amount of water necessary ...
The court affirms a county planning commission's certification of an environmental impact report (EIR) for the drilling of exploratory geothermal wells as being in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) despite the absence of any consideration of the impact of a geothermal p...