On direct review of an order of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the D.C. Circuit rules that the procedures employed by the Board in approving a routing proposal for an electric transmission line were adequate under the National Environmental Policy Act. Th...

Thirty-two industrial companies filed 23 petitions for review of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) imposition of a sulfur dioxide control plan for industrial dischargers in the state of Ohio. Petitioners claim that the plan should be remanded because the informal rulemaking hearings empl...

The Ninth Circuit reverses a lower court's dismissal of an action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator's veto of a state-issued national pollutant discharge elimination system permit for a paper mill but dismisses two peti...

Granting plaintiffs' cross-motion for summary judgment, the Court of Claims enters summary judgment allowing plaintiffs to recover cleanup costs for an oil spill from their property caused by burglars. Plaintiffs had sought to recover their costs, pursuant to Federal Water Pollution Control Act §31...

The court of appeals affirms a district court order dismissing a suit by several chemical manufacturers for review of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Net-Gross Adjustment regulations on the ground that the controversy was not ripe. The regulations provide, with two exceptions, that a d...

In consolidated cases brought by a railroad and a municipality, the court rules that a local ordinance regulating excessive noise has been preempted by the federal Noise Control Act of 1972 and is invalid. The federal statute explicitly preempts all local noise control measures which are not identic...

The court dismisses plaintiffs' claim that a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit for a proposed petroleum refinery was illegally issued by the state water control board because no environmental impact statement (EIS) was prepared. The federal Environmental Protection Agenc...

The court denies a request for injunctive relief against construction of a prison pending preparation of an environmental impact statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the pro...

Affirming the lower court, the Washington Supreme Court holds that the annexation of territory to a sewer district is not a major action significantly affecting the quality of the environment within the meaning of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and that preparation of an environmental im...

The court denies plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction against the disbursement of federal funding for a consumer group study analyzing the economic impact of proposed Department of Agriculture regulations concerning weight variations in meat and poultry products. After determining that pl...