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...

The court upholds the constitutionality of a provision of the Tennessee Surface Mining Law of 1977 requiring a permit applicant to submit evidence of its legal right to strip mine. Appellants, who had been conveyed the mineral interest to a specific property, applied to the Tennessee Department of C...

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) approval of a prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permit for the Hampton Roads oil refinery in Portsmouth, Virginia. Since analysis of the "air quality dispersion" models required for PSD applications...

After granting plaintiffs a temporary restraining order preventing closure of the comment period on a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) regarding inclusion of rivers in the National Wild and Sceni Rivers System, the court denies plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction. Notwithstand...

The court rules that the Army Corps of Engineers' denial of permits to dredge and fill wetlands on Marco Island, Florida, was neither arbitrary nor capricious. Based on Corps and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines, the Chief of Engineers granted one permit but denied two others, conclu...

The court rules that the Corps of Engineers' jurisdiction under §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) extends to freshwater wetlands containing vegetation tolerant to saturated soil conditions. The court had previously enjoined private defendants' landclearing operations prior to ...

The Court holds that the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 provides no implied private cause of action to enforce §10 of the Act. Respondents sought to enjoin construction of part of the California Water Project, a series of storage and transportation facilities designed to carry water from the northe...

Following the Supreme Court's remand on jurisdictional grounds, 10 ELR 20230, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) veto of state-issued variances from best practicable technology (BPT) effluent limitations. The California State Water Resources Cont...

In an action by local residents to enjoin Alabama from acquiring a prison site and issuing a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit without preparing an environmental impact statement, the court affirms an award of summary judgment for the defendants. It holds that the state'...