The court holds that the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 waived sovereign immunity as to civil suits but not as to criminal prosecutions, and dismisses a criminal action against four employees of a federal railroad for violating a clean air ordinance by burning a number of telephone poles. The cour...

The court grants summary judgment against the defendant, who excavated two canals on private property adjacent to the Pamlico River without first obtaining a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, holding that such action constitutes a violation of §403 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. The court ru...

The court issues an injunction prohibiting the U.S. Navy from awarding contracts for the construction of a 600-unit housing project at Fort Story on the Virginia seashore until a NEPA impact statement has been filed. The project is a major federal action that will significantly affect the human envi...

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms a lower court's ruling that NEPA does not specifically require voiding ab initio a grant offer of $4 million for construction of a road through the Santa Fe Forest even though the offer was made prior to filing an environmental impact statement. No funds ha...

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals finds that the question of whether the ongoing operation of the Glen Canyon Dam requires preparation of an environmental impact statement under NEPA is not ripe for judicial determination. There has as yet been no administrative determination by the Department of I...

Plaintiffs, who obtained a consent agreement changing the route of a planned highway so as to lessen intrusion on a park, did not confer a public benefit warranting an award of attorney fees under the private attorney general exception to the American Rule. Even if this were an appropriate case for ...

The Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals affirms a lower court's ruling that the Federal Energy Office was not required to prepare an environmental impact statement in conjunction with its issuance of regulations establishing a scheme for the mandatory allocation of crude oil supplies. The compresse...

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirms a lower court's denial of a preliminary injunction in a suit seeking to prohibit the National Park Service from granting permits for motor vehicle use within the Fire Island National Seashore, and refuses to impose interim motor vehicle regulations. The tr...

The court dismisses an action seeking injunctive relief against EPA approval of a federal grant for the construction of a sewerage treatment plant in Atlantic City. Plaintiffs' claim that additional studies of alternative methods of sewerage disposal are required is jurisdictionally defective, since...

In a Letter Opinion to counsel, the court rules that plaintiffs, as residents of a nearby city, have standing to maintain this NEPA challenge to construction of a Navy housing project on dune land adjacent to a state park. Plaintiffs' use of the adjoining park for recreation and their interest in se...