The Second Circuit upholds an opinion by the general counsel of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determining that when EPA approves a state program for issuing national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permits the Agency retains jurisdiction over final permit proceedings pendi...

The Seventh Circuit upholds the Coast Guard's imposition of a $350 civil penalty under §311(b)(6) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act on the owner of a barge from which oil was spilled into navigable waters because of the act or omission of a third party. The court acknowledges that causatio...

The First Circuit rejects challenges to the constitutionality of §114 of the Clean Air Act and §308 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, which authorize the Environmental Protection Agency to require a discharger to provide the Agency with information concerning manufacturing processes and ...

The court invalidates and preliminarily enjoins implementation of a rule promulgated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) relating to the classification, evaluation, and regulation of carcinogenic substances in consumer products. After finding jurisdiction to hear the suit under 28 U.S.C...

The court dismisses for lack of jurisdiction a petition to review the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's refusal to take immediate action in response to an emergency petition for the shutdown of nuclear power plants throughout the nation. The Commission's letter informing petitioner of its intention to...

Reversing the district court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals holds that Interior Department regulations governing the sale of oil and gas development leases on the outer continental shelf do not prevent the Secretary of the Interior from rejecting a high bid for lease even though the officer aut...

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals overturns the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) approval of Illinois' assumption of responsibility for the administration and enforcement of the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit program within its borders under §402 of the F...

The court affirms a lower court's grant of a continuance, pending preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS), in an evidentiary hearing on the intervening defendant sewer authority's request for an injunction ordering the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue processing grant...

The court affirms a lower court's ruling rejecting North Carolina's claim of authority to regulate fishing for trout by non-Indians on the plaintiff Band's reservation. Under the test established by the Supreme Court, state regulatory laws may preempt tribal regulation unless their application would...

The court declares California statutes prohibiting imports of certain species of animals, or the parts thereof, for commercial purposes unconstitutional and unenforceable with respect to the American alligator because they conflict with §6 of the federal Endangered Species Act. Prior to the adoptio...