A lower court ruling which after a full trial upheld as reasonable a HUD threshold determination not to file an impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act for a proposed housing project is affirmed. A court should proceed beyond the administrative record to an evidentiary hearing i...

A city can regulate the placement of signs and billboards along freeways as a valid exercise of its police power to abate nuisances without complying with the law governing the adoption of zoning ordinances. When a specific act concerning nuisances appears to conflict with a general zoning statute, ...

The final supplementary environmental impact statement for the New Melones Dam Project, in conjunction with the previously filed statement, complies fully with the requirements of NEPA, and the request for a preliminary injunction against construction is denied. The impact statement need not cover i...

Five tribal members seek to cancel portions of a lease of tribal lands for operation of the Four Corners Power Plant because the portions do not adequately protect the tribe from the plant's air pollution. The court dismisses the suit, however, since the Navajo Tribe is an indispensable party that, ...

A threshold determination by the Navy that a proposed housing project would not have sufficient environmental impact to warrant a formal NEPA impact statement is upheld since the Navy took into account numerous environmental factors when reaching its decision. NEPA does not set up existing zoning re...

In a suit to enjoin construction of the Duck River dam and reservior, the court dismisses constitutional claims, grants summary judgment in favor of defendant's claim under the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, and reserves judgment on a claim alleged under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)...

The Necanicum River in Oregon, a relatively small stream that is navigable in fact, meanders through an estuary several thousand feet wide at its mouth at the Pacific Ocean. Typically occupying only a small portion of the width of the estuary, the river's location shifts irregularly over the years, ...

Issuance of an injunction under NEPA against environmentally damaging aspects of a construction project pending filing of an environmental impact statement does not necessarily require the cessation of other less harmful aspects of the same project. The court affirms a lower court holding permitting...

A pipeline company is not liable for damage to oyster reefs resulting from an oil spill caused by a vessel's accidental rupture of an undersea pipeline. Strict liability will not be imposed where the damage is caused solely by a nonforeseeable, intervening event. The opinion of the lower court is af...

The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 forbids all discharges into navigable streams, whether or not navigability is impaired. The absence of a formalized permit procedure does not relieve polluters of the necessity of obtaining permission from the Secretary of the Army before any discharge. Compliance ...