I. Introduction

Introduction

After long delays, implementation of §208 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments (FWPCA) of 1972 is now underway in every state and most major metropolitan areas. The §208 program was designed to provide a comprehensive umbrella for the FWPCA's water quality planning and management provisions. This program is one of the most innovative and complex elements of the FWPCA and has tremendous potential for improving water quality and land use practices by requiring states and localities to produce enforceable water quality management plans.

Thanks to some heavy end-of-term work, the 94th Congress made great strides in enacting environmentally-protective legislation, especially in the areas of federal activities on public lands, toxic substances, and solid wastes. The overall record is not without its low points, however, particularly with regard to continued uncertainty over energy problems. The outlook for the new year is encouraging because President Carter is well-known for his sensitivity to environmental concerns, and the 95th Congress may well be willing to settle many environmental matters that have been postponed.

After considering the matter for more than a year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has declined,¹ over the dissent of one of its members, to become the first federal agency to provide financial assistance to indigent participants in administrative proceedings in the absence of an express statutory grant of authority.² In deciding not to initiate such a program, the Commission concluded that its existing power under enabling laws and appropriations statutes to grant assistance is so limited that the possibility of assistance awards

Substantial risks of environmental damage from oil spills are associated with ocean transport of oil by tanker. These risks have been magnified with the advent of the behemoths known as "supertankers," which can carry up to twelve times as much oil as ordinary tankers. Collision or grounding of tankers is more likely to occur close to shore, where tanker navigation can be especially difficult. Puget Sound, a unique (and narrow) coastal estuary in Washington, poses just such navigation difficulties for the tankers that service refineries located adjacent to the Sound.

The recently concluded migratory bird protection convention between the United States and Russia¹ is a direct result of the "environmental detente" established during former President Nixon's trip to Moscow in 1972.² The treaty is especially significant, however, because it is the fourth, and most sophisticated, bilateral agreement in 60 years calling for protection of migratory birds.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an interpretive policy ruling¹ under which construction of major² new or expanded stationary sources of air pollution could in certain circumstances be allowed in areas that have not attained the national ambient air quality standards. Approval of such construction would be subject to a number of conditions, most notably that the additional emissions from the new or expanded sources be more than offset by reductions at existing facilities within the region.

A recent decision by a federal district judge may signal the revival of the standing question in environmental actions, a defense which had been assumed moribund for the past few years. Judge Aubrey Robinson of the District Court for the District of Columbia, in Animal Welfare Institute v.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has become the first federal agency to establish procedures, in the absence of specific statutory authority, for providing financial assistance to indigent participants in administrative proceedings.¹ On January 13, DOT announced the beginning of a one-year demonstration funding program² for participants in selected National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) rulemaking and adjudicatory proceedings under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966.³ T