The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms the decision of the district court, 9 ELR 20686, dismissing an action seeking, inter alia, an injunction halting a federally funded highway project because of defendants' alleged failure to comply with the terms of the environmental impact statement (EIS) ...

The United States Supreme Court affirms a decision by the California Supreme Court, 9 ELR 20260, that two municipal zoning ordinances aimed at preserving open space do not represent a facially unconstitutional taking of appellants' property without just compensawtion. The Court determines that the c...

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms a lower court's decision, 9 ELR 20545, upholding the constitutionality of §125 of the Clean Air Act, which authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prohibit noncompliant major stationary sources from burning fuels other than locally or regio...

The court remands the new source performance standards (NSPS) for lime manufacturing plants issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under §111 of the Clean Air Act after finding inadequate support for them in the administrative record. The standards set numerical and opacity limitations...

The court rules that a receiver shall be appointed to supervise the payment of a civil fine and the removal of thousands of drums of hazardous waste from defendants' property. After chemicals had leaked from defendants' waste storage facility into nearby waters, resulting in substantial losses of fi...

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals remands to the district court a case concerning the regulation of Indian fishing rights. In 1979, the lower court ruled that pursuant to two nineteenth century treaties the plaintiff tribes had an absolute right to engage in gill net fishing in the waters of Lake M...

The court holds that preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) is not required before a permit can be granted under the state's Hard Rock Mining Act (HRMA), but the court rules that the permit at issue is nonetheless invalid for failure ...

The Alabama Supreme Court affirms the dismissal, for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, of an action brought by the state of Alabama under the Alabama Water Improvement Act to recover civil penalties for pollution caused by the collision of a ship with an oil pipeline. The co...

The California Supreme Court issues a writ of mandamus compelling the trial court to set aside an order vesting fee simple ownership of a tract of land on the shore of San Francisco Bay in the Santa Fe Land Improvement Company, whose predecessors in interest had acquired it by a deed issued under an...

The court dismisses for lack of subject matter jurisdiction a complaint filed by a town and private citizens seeking injunctive relief against the grant of a "downzoning" variance which allows construction of clustered housing in a neighboring village. The court finds the challenge to the proposed d...