The Third Circuit rules that §204(b)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and its implementing regulations, which authorize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to condition approval of sewage treatment works construction grants upon the applicant's implementation of a user charge sys...

The court affirms a district court ruling that the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) complied with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Department of Transportation Act (DOTA) in deciding to construct a portion of a highway, Alternate Route 7. The court rules that the final environmenta...

The D.C. Circuit reverses the district court's award of attorney fees for a case in which the D.C. Circuit rejected Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and Endangered Species Act (ESA) challenges to oil and gas leasing in the Beaufort Sea, 10 ELR 20832. Applying the principles established in t...

The Ninth Circuit affirms the district court's ruling, 12 ELR 20107, that the Secretary of the Interior's transfer of the authority to regulate oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from the Fish and Wildlife Service to the United States Geological Survey violates the Nation...

The court rules that New Mexico water pollution control regulations defining toxic pollutants in terms of their potential harmful effects are constitutional. The court first rules that the challenged regulation is neither unconstitutionally vague nor an ex post facto law. Although the rule does not ...

The court upholds the constitutionality of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act as applied to appellant's conviction for illegally removing a wild free-roaming horse from the public lands. The court rules that the definition of the category of horses protected by the statute, "unbranded and u...

The Eleventh Circuit reverses a preliminary injunction granted by the district court, ruling that an agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy allowing site preparation for the Clinch River breeder reactor prior to preparation of a final environmental i...

The court rules that Humboldt County did not hold rights-of-way in two roads in the Blue Lake scenic area and upholds the Bureau of Land Management's closure of the roads to vehicular use. Initially, the court rules that appellant was barred from claiming a right-of-way in the Theodore Basin road be...

The Wisconsin Supreme Court holds that the owner of a solar-heated residence has a cause of action in common-law private nuisance for the alleged obstruction of solar access by an adjoining landowner. Appellant asserted that respondent's proposed home, although in conformance with existing deed rest...

The court denies defendants' petition to vacate their convictions for discharging pollutants from mushroom composting operations without a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit in violation of §§301(a) and 309(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA). The Third Circui...