The court rules that the Department of the Interior complied with the procedural requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the inclusion of five California rivers in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, but that the is...

After the parties fail to settle on a fee amount following the court's ruling, 12 ELR 20213, that plaintiffs are entitled to attorney fees, the court sets the amount of fees due plaintiffs for their litigation efforts in Sierra Club v. Costle, 11 ELR 20455. The court first identifies the appropriate...

The Third Circuit rules that §204(b)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and its implementing regulations, which authorize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to condition approval of sewage treatment works construction grants upon the applicant's implementation of a user charge sys...

The court affirms a district court ruling that the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) complied with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Department of Transportation Act (DOTA) in deciding to construct a portion of a highway, Alternate Route 7. The court rules that the final environmenta...

The D.C. Circuit reverses the district court's award of attorney fees for a case in which the D.C. Circuit rejected Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and Endangered Species Act (ESA) challenges to oil and gas leasing in the Beaufort Sea, 10 ELR 20832. Applying the principles established in t...

The Ninth Circuit affirms the district court's ruling, 12 ELR 20107, that the Secretary of the Interior's transfer of the authority to regulate oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from the Fish and Wildlife Service to the United States Geological Survey violates the Nation...

The court rules that New Mexico water pollution control regulations defining toxic pollutants in terms of their potential harmful effects are constitutional. The court first rules that the challenged regulation is neither unconstitutionally vague nor an ex post facto law. Although the rule does not ...

The court upholds the constitutionality of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act as applied to appellant's conviction for illegally removing a wild free-roaming horse from the public lands. The court rules that the definition of the category of horses protected by the statute, "unbranded and u...

The Eleventh Circuit reverses a preliminary injunction granted by the district court, ruling that an agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy allowing site preparation for the Clinch River breeder reactor prior to preparation of a final environmental i...

The court rules that Humboldt County did not hold rights-of-way in two roads in the Blue Lake scenic area and upholds the Bureau of Land Management's closure of the roads to vehicular use. Initially, the court rules that appellant was barred from claiming a right-of-way in the Theodore Basin road be...