Reversing the Minnesota Supreme Court, 9 ELR 20739 (1979), the United States Supreme Court holds that a state ban on the retail sale of milk in plastic nonreturnable containers bears a rational relationship to the state's objective to foster greater use of environmentally desirable alternatives and ...

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirms a district court judgment awarding appellee municipality $500,000 in damages as a result of a toxic chemical spill from one of appellant's railroad cars. As a result of the spill, which the jury found to be negligently but not willfully caused, drinking w...

The court refuses to enjoin defendants from proceeding with the construction of a highway in Vermont, ruling that plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared for the project did not adequately consider the environmental impac...

Affirming the district court's denial of a preliminary injunction to halt further construction of a portion of Interstate 190 in Massachusetts, the First Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the environmental impact statement (EIS) adequately discussed the potential dangers to Boston's drinking water...

The court denies plaintiff's request for injunctive relief and concludes that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) does not preclude the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in reviewing a pesticide registration application, from using test data submitted prior to 1970 b...

The court denies plaintiff's motion for an injunction pending appeal of its earlier decision, 11 ELR 20147. The court notes that plaintiff, as in its earlier motion, has failed to demonstrate a probability of success on the merits. Plaintiff's alleged irreparable harm is merely loss of an exclusive ...

Affirming the district court's decision, 11 ELR 20147, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the practice of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), of using test data submitted with applications for the registratio...

The court rules that §522(e)(5) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), which prevents mining within 100 feet of a cemetery, does not violate the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Determining that a family burial site did not constitute a "cemetery" within the meaning of the...

Reversing the circuit court on direct appeal, the Florida Supreme Court holds that the state's Environmental Protection Act creates a new cause of action allowing private citizens of Florida to bring suit under the statute without a showing of special injury. Plaintiff environmental group sought to ...

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) approval of Virginia's state implementation plan (SIP). Under §173 of the Clean Air Act, a new source can be built in a nonattainment area only if existing sources decrease their emissions of particular pollut...