The court holds that the City of Evanston, Illinois, its mayor, and two aldermen do not have standing under the Urban Mass Transportation Act (UMTA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), or as taxpayers to challenge the establishment of a bus garage using a grant from the federal Urban Mass...

The court holds that two conservation groups have not shown sufficient injury-in-fact to establish standing in their challenge to the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) decision to exclude submerged lands underneath nonnavigable waters from the total acreage charged to the state of Alaska's or nati...

In a citizen suit under §505 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), the court holds that a chemical manufacturer that discharged pollutants in excess of the limitations specified in its national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit is liable for violations of the Act. ...

The court holds that information relating to the deployment of nuclear weapons on Navy ships is classified for reasons of national security and is thus exempt from public disclosure in the Navy's environmental impact statement (EIS) on stationing ships in New York harbor. The court also holds that t...

The court holds that the federal government is liable to residents in the vicinity of McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Washington, for local groundwater contamination caused by the Air Force's negligent disposal of hazardous materials. The Air Force's actions do not fall within the discretionary ...

The court holds that Indiana Public Interest Research Group (InPIRG), a citizens' group, may not intervene in a suit brought by the federal, state, and municipal governments for polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination of the city's sewer system and treatment plant and several landfills. The gov...

The court rules that there is no right to a jury trial in an action for private response costs under §107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Under Tull v. United States, 17 ELR 20667, the Seventh Amendment provides a jury trial in actions that are...

The court upholds an order issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) denying petitioner's request to stay the NRC's extension of an expired construction permit and to halt further construction at the Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station in Texas. The court first holds that the NRC properly d...

The court holds that the two-acre exemption under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) does not preempt Pennsylvania's laws and regulations governing surface mining operations smaller than two acres. Nothing in SMCRA's plain language suggests that state laws affecting such small op...

The court rules that the Eleventh Amendment does not bar a private suit in federal court against a state for monetary damages arising under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA)...