Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Empirical Analysis
966 F.2d 1292 · 1992
Citation profile
37 federal appellate · 13 district · 11 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 92 later decisions (2 by the Supreme Court) — most recently January 2020 · most notably Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center (2013), Environmental Defense Center, Inc. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.-Intervenor, v. United States Environmental Protection Agency (2003)
37 federal appellate · 13 district · 11 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 33 U.S.C. § 1251 (Alternative Water Sources Act of 2000) · 33 U.S.C. § 1288 · 33 U.S.C. § 1321 · 33 U.S.C. § 1342 · 33 U.S.C. § 1362 · 33 U.S.C. § 1369 · 42 U.S.C. § 9602 (§ 102 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980) · 5 U.S.C. § 551 (Administrative Procedure Act of 1946)
Relies on Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe · Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association of United States Inc v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company Consumer Alert · Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · Sierra Club v. Morton
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 92 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.”
19 later decisions quote this exact passage“Construction activity at a high level of intensity is comparable to other activity that is traditionally viewed as industrial, such as natural resource extraction. Construction that disturbs large tracks of land will involve the use of heavy equipment such as bulldozers, cranes, and dump trucks. Construction activity frequently employs dynamite and/or other equipment to eliminate trees, bedrock, rockwork, and to fill or level land. Such activities also engage in installation of haul roads, drainage systems, and holding ponds that are typical of the industrial activity identified in § 122.26(b)(14)(i-x). EPA cannot reasonably place such activity in the same category as light commercial or retail business. Further, the runoff generated while construction activities are occurring has potential for serious water quality impacts and reflects an activity that is industrial in nature. Where construction activities are intensive, the localized impacts of water quality may be severe because of high unit loads of pollutants, primarily sediments. Construction sites can also generate other pollutants such as phosphorus and nitrogen from fertilizer, pesticides, petroleum products, construction chemicals and solid wastes. These materials can be toxic to aquatic organisms and degrade water for drinking and water-contact recreation. Sediment runoff rates from construction sites are typically 10 to 20 times that of agricultural lands, with runoff rates as high as 100 times that of agricultura”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.