The Third Circuit affirms the district court's dismissal, 11 ELR 20886, of appellants' suit to enjoin a state tax imposed under the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. In seeking a declaration that §114(c) of the Comprehensive Environmental Respons...

The Fifth Circuit rules that a hazardous waste disposal company and two sellers of crude oil are strictly liable for damages incurred by Ashland Oil, Inc., as a result of defendants' injection of a toxic industrial waste into Ashland's pipeline system. Defendant Rollins-Purle, Inc., who had agreed t...

The Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of several provisions of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) under the Commerce Clause and the Tenth Amendment. The Court reverses a district court decision finding unconstitutional Titles I and III and §210 of Title II of PURPA. Titles...

The court rules that the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) authorizes the concurrent enforcement of SMCRA regulations by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the Secretary of the Interior. Initially, the court rules that it, not the District Court for the District of Columbia, has juris...

Reversing the district court, the Ninth Circuit rules that the Urban Mass Transportation Administration's (UMTA's) decision to categorically exempt the construction and operation of a bus maintenance depot from preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) is ripe for judicial review. The c...

The Supreme Court of Alaska upholds Alaska's determination under the Alaska Lands Act that the Beaufort Sea oil and gas lease sale was in the state's best interest, but remands the state's decision that the lease sale was consistent with the Alaska Coastal Management Plan (ACMP). Initially, the cour...

The First Circuit rules that the construction of a privately funded hangar at the Lebanon, New Hampshire, airport is not a federal action subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The district court, after preliminarily enjoining construction of a federally funded runway extension and...

The court enjoins the Secretary of the Interior from leasing oil and gas tracts off the California coast pending compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). The court concludes that California has demonstrated a strong probability of success on the merits of its claim that the Secretary ...

The court holds that neither §7003 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) nor §106(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) confers liability on non-negligent past off-site generators off-site generators are persons "contributing to" th...

The D.C. Circuit affirms the district court ruling, 11 ELR 20812, that the Forest Service's approval of exploratory mineral drilling in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area, which supports populations of the threatened grizzly bear, did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or th...