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...

The court remands the case to the district court for a determination of whether operation and deterioration of a municipal landfill have caused a partial taking of plaintiffs' nearby land. Plaintiffs own parcels next to land that Bayamon wished to use for a sanitary landfill. Toxic wastes eventually...

The court declares that the Navy is violating the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Executive Order (E.O.) No. 11593, which concerns the preservation of historic sites under the National Historic Preservation Act, in carrying out target practice activities on the small...

Granting plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, the court enjoins implementation of the Federal Coal Leasing Program. The Department of the Interior's final programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) failed to consider the "no action" alternative of continuing the 1970 moratorium on issuanc...

The court affirms the lower court's order dismissing the state of Maine's challenge to the 1977 herring fishing quota set by the Department of Commerce which allows foreign fleets to fish on the Georges Bank. The lower court dimissed the complaint because the Secretary of Commerce provided affidavit...