The court grants the motions of four environmental groups to intervene as defendants as a matter of right under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2) in a suit challenging the denial of permit applications for dredging and filling mangrove swamps in Marco Island, Florida. Members of these four gr...

The court declares that the 1976-1977 bird hunting season regulations allowing shooting from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset are arbitrary and unlawful. Defendant Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is directed to continue rulemaking proceedings for the 1977-1978 season but must put more adequate...

The court affirms a lower court's denial of a motion by the United Steelworkers union to intervene as a matter of right in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforcement action which had already resulted in a court order for the shutdown of five open hearth furnances in Birmingham, Alabama. Th...

Extending the concept of strict liability in tort for damages caused as a result of the storage of oil as an ultrahazardous or pollutant substance, the court nonetheless finds that the city is not a proper plaintiff to recover for the expenses of cleanup as part of its governmental functions. Becaus...

The court affirms a lower court's decree, 6 ELR 20466, requiring defendant to operate the Duman Dam pumping facility in order to prevent the discharge of untreated acid mine water from one of its abandoned coal mines. On a previous appeal, 4 ELR 20545, the court held that the discharge constituted a...

The Maryland Court of Appeals upholds against several constitutional attacks the validity of Baltimore's Oldtown Urban Renewal Ordinance, which requires removal of off-site billboards. The ordinance prohibits, without compensation, all signs other than those identifying uses of the property on which...

The Supreme Court invalidates, under the Supremacy Clause, two Virginia statutes that limit the right of nonresidents and aliens to catch fish commercially in the state's territorial waters. Persons wishing to fish commercially in Virginia must obtain licenses. Va. Code §28.1-81.1. Only citizens or...

The court rejects defendant's equal protection challenge to Cambridge, Massachusetts, parking regulations that distinguish between residents and nonresidents. The city's classification is rationally related to the city's legitimate interest in reducing highway congestion and air pollution, and in en...

The court grants defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings, treating it as a motion for summary judgment, and denies plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. The Postal Service was constructing a new mail processing facility and planned to move some of plaintiff Dover Township's operations to...

The court holds that negligent conduct may be part of a cause of action for nuisance and that plaintiff was not prejudiced by a jury instruction that specifies that contributory negligence may be a defense in such an action. Plaintiff owned an automobile storage lot near defendant's oil-fired power ...