The district court denies Stauffer Chemical Co.'s motion to quash an administrative search warrant obtained by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), concluding that under §114(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act EPA is authorized to use non-Agency employees in making inspections of emission sources. On...

The district court denies the Bunker Hill Company's motion to quash an administrative search warrant directing it to admit both an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employee and a non-employee hired by the agency as an independent contractor for purposes of making an inspection of its zinc smelt...

The court issues a preliminary injunction restraining the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from conducting an inspection of an emission source with non-Agency personnel, ruling that under §114(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act only EPA employees have a right of entry to make inspections. In support o...

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals rules that an employee of a private company under contract with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to carry out an inspection program is not an "authorized representative" of the Administrator under §114(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act and thus has no right of e...

The Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) under the Commerce Clause and Fifth and Tenth Amendments. The Court first finds that Congress rationally determined that regulation of surface coal mining is necessary to protect interstate comm...

Reversing the district court, 10 ELR 20613, the Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the "prime farmland," "approximate original contour," and other provisions of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The district court concluded that surface coal mining has little advers...

The court upholds the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) decision to regulate motor homes as "medium and heavy trucks" for purposes of the Noise Control Act of 1972. EPA had issued noise emission control standards pursuant to §6(a) of the Act applicable to medium and heavy trucks, including ...

The court rules that §204(b) of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act bars recovery under §311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) for cleanup costs due to an oil spill caused by a third party. The pipeline owners sought recovery from the United States for repair and oil remov...

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirms orders issued by the district court (1) requiring the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission to restore deleted budget funds for acquisition of a sludge disposal site in Montgomery County, Maryland and (2) enjoining related state court proceedings impeding ...

Reversing a decision of the Supreme Court of California, 10 ELR 20862, the United States Supreme Court invalidates on First Amendment grounds a San Diego billboard ordinance prohibiting, with some exceptions, off-site commercial advertising and noncommercial signs. In the view of a four-member plura...