An Alaska state court enjoins entry onto state and federal submerged land lying off the coast of Alaska in the Beaufort Sea that was leased to private companies for oil and gas development in December 1979. The injunction against further exploratory activity is issued pending specification by the Al...

On review of a municipal ordinance restricting the availability of septic tank installation permits to residential lots of five acres or more, the Iowa Supreme Court declares unconstitutional that portion of the ordinance granting a "grandfather" exemption to all previously platted subdivisions exce...

The court dismisses a petition for review of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) order requiring petitioner to submit to the Agency a program for improving the performance of its sewage treatment plant. Under §509(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the courts of appeals have jurisd...

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the owner of a barge from which oil was discharged may not, in an action by the United States to recover its cleanup costs pursuant to §311(f) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, escape liability on the ground that the owner of a tug that was to...

In a proceeding in which the United States seeks criminal penalties for unauthorized discharges from defendants' croplands, the court denies motions to dismiss and to suppress. Contrary to defendants' arguments, the discharge from their water treatment system constitutes a point source under §502 o...

In a citizen suit brought under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing the trial court's award of summary judgment to appellees, rules that runoff and leachate emanating from appellees' strip mining operations may constitute "point source" pollution wi...

The court upholds the Secretary of the Interior's decision to refrain from joining pending litigation to determine federal reserved rights in certain water courses in the Southwest. Plaintiff contended that a number of planned energy projects will subject federal reserved water rights to serious and...

The district court rules that the owners of a barge from which oil was discharged may, in an action brought by the United States to recover its cleanup costs pursuant to §311(f) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, escape liability on the ground that the owner of a tug that was towing the ba...

Interpreting broadly the standing requirements for suits brought pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the district court holds that a local nonprofit environmental organization, individual steelworkers and their unions, and an unincorporated organization formed to study the effe...

The court invalidates regulations issued by the Secretary of Transportation intended to provide handicapped persons with equal access to mass trainsit vehicles and facilities. Initially, the court finds that the regulations are within the Secretary's statutory authority and that the rulemaking recor...