The double jeopardy clause does not bar criminal prosecution under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 (FWPCA) of a defendant who was earlier assessed a civil penalty under the FWPCA for an oil spill. It is within Congress' power to impose both civil and criminal sanctions for the same a...

The city of Boulder cannot refuse to extend sewer and water services to outlying residential developments for growth control reasons, since it operates these services in the form of a public utility. The city has the capacity to supply these services; it therefore cannot discriminate among users in ...

The EPA Administrator has authority under the Clean Air Act to impose gasoline rationing in order to meet the Clean Air Act standards. EPA regulations that require reduction in the supply of gasoline to selected areas in California starting in 1977 are therefore valid. Congress properly granted EPA ...

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower court order dissolving previously issued injunctions against the construction of a highway in Hawaii, and directs the district court on remand to enjoin construction until the Secretary of Transportation demonstrates full compliance with the requir...

The court directs the Army Corps of Engineers to furnish safe drinking water for the Minnesota communities affected by asbestos particles from Reserve's taconite discharges into Lake Superior and removes District Judge Lord from the case for judicial bias and deliberate disregard of the initial appe...

The Minnesota Supreme Court reverses the trial court's dismissal of an action alleging violation of state and federal water quality statutes, holding that the doctrines of primary jurisdiction and exhaustion of administrative remedies are inapplicable to an agency acting as plaintiff, especially whe...

In this action brought under the Michigan Environmental Protection Act (MEPA), Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. §691.1201, ELR 43001, plaintiff fails to prove that the granting of an easement by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for construction of a proposed coal unloading facility and power plant wa...

Presently before the court is the question of whether the environmental impact statement for a 9.6-mile segment of the Transpark Road meets the statutory requirements of NEPA. Under the Act, the EIS must serve two functions: (1) aid in the substantive decision whether to proceed with the project in ...

The court upholds the constitutionality of a 1902 Georgia statute that extended to the low watermark the boundaries of lands adjacent to navigable tidewaters, but limits its scope to the cultivation and harvesting of oysters and clams. The 1902 Act was immunized from further constitutional attack by...

The court directs the Duxbury board of zoning appeals of issue a permit allowing the excavation and filling of plaintiffs' tidal marsh, subject to conditions necessary to prevent erosion of the fill. A rehearing is denied in a supplemental opinion emphasizing that the decision should not be construe...