The court upholds the Secretary of the Interior's decision to refrain from joining pending litigation to determine federal reserved rights in certain water courses in the Southwest. Plaintiff contended that a number of planned energy projects will subject federal reserved water rights to serious and...

The district court rules that the owners of a barge from which oil was discharged may, in an action brought by the United States to recover its cleanup costs pursuant to §311(f) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, escape liability on the ground that the owner of a tug that was towing the ba...

Interpreting broadly the standing requirements for suits brought pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the district court holds that a local nonprofit environmental organization, individual steelworkers and their unions, and an unincorporated organization formed to study the effe...

The court invalidates regulations issued by the Secretary of Transportation intended to provide handicapped persons with equal access to mass trainsit vehicles and facilities. Initially, the court finds that the regulations are within the Secretary's statutory authority and that the rulemaking recor...

The court declares unconstitutional, and enjoins enforcement of, numerous provisions of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). Plaintiffs challenged portions of Title V of the SMCRA regarding mining on prime farmlands, restoration to approximate original contour, topsoiling requirem...

Granting the government's motion for summary judgment, the district court assesses a civil penalty of $26,400 against the corporate owners of a municipal water system for repeated "willful" violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The court finds that defendants' persistent failure to compl...

The court denies defendant-intervenors' motion to strike exhibits offered by plaintiffs in support of their motion for partial summary judgment in a suit challenging federal approval of uranium mining and milling activities in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico. The exhibits consist of documents prepa...

The District of Columbia Circuit of Appeals upholds the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) renewal of a license authorizing enlargement of the Ross Dam, a hydroelectric facility on the Skagit River in Washington. After disposing of petitioners' claim that the expiration of the original ...

The court upholds the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) national ambient air quality standards for lead, concluding both that the Administrator acted within the scope of his statutory authority and that the evidence adduced at the rulemaking proceedings supported the final determinations. Re...

A trial judge assesses a $493,500 civil penalty against Dayton Malleable, Inc. (DMI) for five admitted violations of a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit issued pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The company was sued by the state of Ohio for violating §...