The court invalidates the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) decision to exempt by regulation steel plants in the Mahoning River Valley from the effluent limitations generally applicable to that point source category. The exemption cannot stand in view of the command in §301(e) of the Federa...

The court dismisses appeals by three state agencies, which appeal a permit issued for a coastal oil refinery, on the grounds that they lack standing to seek judicial review under the Site Location of Development Law, 38 Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§481 et seq., ELR Stat. & Reg. 43027. Appellee Board ...

Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) and the Corps of Engineers' regulations providing for the issuance of permits to discharge dredged and fill material apply to unnavigable waters within Puerto Rico. The court rules that plaintiff has standing to sue under the Declaratory...

Dismissing plaintiffs' complaint, the court holds that the Interior Department need not prepare a National Environmental Policy Act environmental impact statement (EIS) prior to the formulation of a proposal for an outer continental shelf oil and gas lease sale off the coast of southern California. ...

The court upholds the power of the State Board of Forestry to disapprove timber harvesting plans on the grounds that they would foreclose future congressional action to expand Redwood National Park. Petitioners, which are logging companies doing business in Humboldt County, filed harvesting plans wi...

The court holds that the Federal Power Commission (FPC) may issue a conditional certificate of public convenience for a proposed coal gasification plant without writing a full National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental impact statement (EIS). The FPC initially held that it had jurisdicti...

A declaration of taking filed by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in connection with a project to repair and replace bridges along a short, unpaved legislative route through an area of unusual scenic beauty does not violate the state's constitutional duties as public trustee of the stat...

The Michigan Court of Appeals affirms, over strong dissent, a trial court's finding that an air pollution nuisance suit may be maintained as a class action. In 1972, plaintiffs, members of the Association and 20 named plaintiffs who reside in an eight-block area near southwest Detroit, filed a class...

The court remands the case with directions that the Secretary of Commerce provide reasons in accordance with the Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. §§1801 et seq., why an "optimum yield" of 33,000 metric tons (m.t.) of Georges Bank herring stock may be taken in the 1977 fishing sea...

The court upholds the validity of amendments to regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under §112 of the Clean Air Act which govern the demolition of buildings containing asbestos. The agency's refusal to perform tests at demolition sites to verify its earlier determin...