The owner of a petroleum tank farm bears strict liability under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 for an unauthorized oil discharge into a navigablewaterway which was caused by seepage from a large accumulation of oil under its property. Defendant had admitted ownership of the oil, and the court ho...

In deciding whether a feasible and prudent alternative exists to construction of a federally funded highway through parkland, the Secretary of Transportation may defer to local opinion as to whether an area is a public park, but may not defer to local preference as to its use, and instead must consi...

The reservation of "all the coal and other minerals" to the federal government in a land patent issued under the Stock Raising Homestead Act of 1916 did not include geothermal resources. After examining the statute's legislative history, the court determines that the intent of Congress was to reserv...

Federal regulations governing fuel and fuel additives, which become effective in January 1975, do not preempt New York City's present regulation of gasoline lead content and volatility, and plaintiff Exxon's motion for summary judgment on that theory is therefore denied. There can be no conflict bet...

Petitioner's request for review of respondent's failure to declare chronic air pollution in the District of Columbia to be an "Emergency Episode" under the provisions of the D.C. Air Pollution Act, is dismissed for lack of proper jurisdiction. The D.C. Administrative Procedure Act limits judicial re...

Petitioners challenge EPA's approval of those portions of the New York Implementation Plan which concern transportation controls for New York City as being illegal under the requirements of the Clean Air Act. Applying the arbitrary and capricious standard of review, the Second Circuit Court of Appea...

The court denies petitions for a rehearing after finding that §16 of the Federal Power Commission Act, which requires construction of power plants to begin within two years of a license grant and limits extensions, will not foreclose Con Edison's Storm King project if construction is suspended pend...

Plaintiff, owner of the surface estate of Kentucky coal-bearing lands, contends that defendant, who holds the mineral estate under a "broad-form" deed and is engaged in strip mining of the land, is acting under color of state law and taking plaintiff's property without due process or just compensati...

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirms a district court order requiring the Interstate Commerce Commission to determine whether a NEPA impact statement is necessary in each railroad abandonment proceeding, and if so, to prepare a draft EIS prior to any administrative hearings. The single-judge ...

Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, sitting in his capacity as Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit, stays, pending appeal by plaintiffs to the circuit court, a district court order allowing construction of the Warm Springs Dam project to proceed. The stay is granted largely on the basis of a...