On citizen-plaintiffs' motion for attorney fees following settlement of a §505 citizen suit under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the court awards $60,936.79 in fees and costs. Plaintiffs alleged that defendant had failed to comply with the national pollutant discharge elimination system p...

The court denies plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to expedite its review and revision of the air quality criteria for sulfur dioxide under §§108 and 109 of the Clean Air Act. Plaintiff, a company that mines and sells high-sulfur co...

The Supreme Court holds that the penalty imposed under §311(b)(6) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), for the unauthorized discharge of oil and hazardous substances into navigable waters, in civil rather than criminal in nature, and therefore the reporting requirements set out in §...

The court reverses the dismissal of an action to compel the city of Seattle to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) before implementing a bus lane construction program, ruling that the program is not as a matter of law categorically excluded from the State Environmental Policy Act's (SEPA...

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the bulk of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) workplace safety rule limiting employee exposure to airborne lead in concentrations greater than 50 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3). In response to what it viewed as mounting evidenc...

The court holds that the Coast Guard's final environmental impact statement (EIS) adequately discussed the environmental consequences of the construction of the Greater New Orleans Bridge No. 2; thus, the issuance of the construction permit was proper. The court first rules that the bridge permit ne...

The court holds that an action to enjoin the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) publication of proposed new source performance standards for producers of organic solvent degreasers under §111 of the Clean Air Act may be filed only in the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. The pla...

The court rejects a challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) designation of parts of Pickaway County, Ohio, as a nonattainment area under §107(d) of the Clean Air Act and reverses the designation of parts of Coshocton County as nonattainment. The latter designation was based on an...

The court rules that because the 1977 amendments to the Clean Air Act require national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) to be met by continuous rather than intermittent emissions controls, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) properly declared Midland County, Michigan a "nonattainment area...

The court holds that the Anti-Injunction Statute prohibits it from enjoining enforcement of a state court order that temporarily prohibits further action on a public housing project pending completion of a more thorough environmental impact statement (EIS) pursuant to the National Environmental Poli...