The court upholds a penalty imposed for violation of a visual opacity standard even though appellant did not violate the companion particulate standard. It rejects appellant's argument that the visual opacity test creates only a presumption of illegal pollution subject to rebuttal proof that actual ...

The court affirms a zoning board's denial of a permit to construct a coal tipple on appellant's industrial-zoned property. After an appeal by a citizens group, the zoning board rescinded the building permit, finding that appellant could not meet zoning ordinance performance standards governing dust,...

The court affirms the district court's approval of an order by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) closing two corridors in the Imperial Sand Dunes to use by off-road vehicles (ORVs). It holds that closure of the corridors on grounds of ORV destructiveness to plant life was supported by substantial ...

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin rules that the Wisconsin Environmental Policy Act (WEPA), WIS. STAT. §1.11, applies to the promulgation of building codes but not to individual code compliance reviews. Appellant approved as consistent with the code plans for a 250,000-gallon holding tank in Door Coun...

The Colorado Court of Appeals rules that the Colorado Air Pollution Control Commission was without authority to adopt a regulation making compliance with ambient air quality standards a condition to the continued validity of permits to operate electric power generation plants. Initially, the court r...

The court upholds the Department of Public Works' determination that the proposed construction of a condominium does not require preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS). The department issued its declaration of nonsignificance after reviewing an environmental checklist prepared by the...

The Ninth Circuit affirms the district court's ruling that the city of San Francisco's system of sewer service charges does not violate the proportionality requirement of §204(b)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), the applicable Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation, ...

The court rules that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not required to hold an adjudicatory hearing before issuing a modified national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit. The Illinois EPA had issued defendant a new permit that included more stringent conditions...

The court applies the doctrine of commercial frustration to relieve petitioner strip mining company of liability for payments under a surface minerals extraction lease, finding that the parties could not have foreseen that applications for the necessary permits would arouse such strong opposition as...

The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) warrantless aerial photography of plaintiff's chemical manufacturing plant both violated the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches and lacked authorization under §114 of the Clean Air Act. The court first note...