The court holds two mining companies strictly, jointly, and severally liable under Pennsylvania's Clean Streams law and the state Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (state SMCRA) for polluting a town's groundwater supply where each company's contribution to the pollution cannot be deter...

The court rules that prior federal authorization is not required for private parties to recover response costs under §107(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental, Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The court also holds that prior state or local action is not required for private acti...

The court holds that a parent corporation and a management services subsidiary are owners and operators under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) §107. The court lists as factors to consider in determining whether a parent corporation is a CERCLA owner or ...

The court holds that plaintiffs have not shown that they were prevailing parties under the Equal Access to Justice Act in their action alleging that the Department of Energy (DOE) failed to comply with the public participation requirements of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act at an ina...

District court's order for summary judgment in favor of defendant reversed and remanded in suit challenging the Atomic Energy Commission's plans to detonate an underground nuclear warhead on Amchitka Island, Alaska. The court of appeals holds that the grant of summary judgment prematurely foreclosed...

In a suit to enjoin various highway undertakings that originated in a citywide highway master plan developed with federal aid, the court holds that a NEPA environmental impact statement is required only for those undertakings that individually receive federal aid and that have not yet reached constr...

The court holds that several large lumber companies have standing under NEPA to challenge the 1971 small business timber set-aside program, but rules that the program does not constitute major federal action nor significantly affect the quality of the human environment, and therefore does not requir...

The revised environmental impact statement for the construction of an additional three lanes of Interstate Highway I-90 through Snoqualmie Pass 45 miles east of Seattle complies with the requirements of NEPA; it adequately describes viaduct-type alternatives to the planned project design. Certain un...

The Fifth Circuit reverses a lower court's summary judgment for defendants in an action contesting the legality of a NEPA impact statement for a federal highway project. The court of appeals finds that there are genuine issues of fact concerning whether or not plaintiffs were properly notified of a ...

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a district court ruling and holds that a five-year municipal housing and zoning plan which restricts housing development in the form of projects of five or more units to a total of 500 units per year is a valid exercise of the police power. The landowners ...