The court rules that the National Trails System Act's (NTSA's) grant of authority to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to allow interim use of railroad rights-of-way as recreational trails does not violate the Commerce Clause. The state of Missouri had protested a railroad's application to th...

The court holds that a citizen may not bring suit under §505 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) for alleged violations of defendant's national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit because an amendment to the permit precludes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...

The court holds that an amendment to defendant's national pollutant discharge elimination system permit precluding the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing the permit pending an appeal to a state administrative agency does not bar a citizen suit under the Federal Water Pollution Cont...

The court holds that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) decision to exempt extraction and beneficiation mining wastes from regulation as hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was not arbitrary and capricious. EPA determined not to regulate these wastes a...

The court upholds the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) conclusion that §110(a)(2)(E) and §126(b) of the Clean Air Act do not impose an affirmative duty on the agency to review existing state implementation plans (SIPs) to determine whether they are adequate to prevent impermissible inters...

The court holds that the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) waives the United States Navy's sovereign immunity from a suit alleging that the Navy caused drinking water contamination while extracting explosives from missiles. The FTCA's exception for discretionary functions is overcome when the governmen...

The court holds that Hawaii's introduction of mouflon sheep into critical habitat of the endangered Palila bird is an unlawful taking under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The state introduced the sheep into the area for sport hunting, but the sheep feed on trees that provide critical habitat for ...

Defendant Army Corps successful in seeking reversal of district court opinion holding that Corps was limited to consideration of navigation, flood control and hydroelectric potential in issuance of dredge and fill permit. Under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Fish and Wildlife Coordina...

One-half of fines collected earlier by U.S. in action by same name under Refuse Act, 33 U.S.C. §411, awarded to informer. Court has no discretion under §411 not to award one-half total fines imposed, once court determines that informant should be awarded any fraction of the fines. Although plainti...

Plaintiffs, three conservation organizations, were granted a preliminary injunction against the issuance by federal officials under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 of right-of-way and special use permits for the construction of an 800-mile-long oil pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, Alaska. Defend...