Often, a legal dispute may not look like it involves an environmental issue on the surface, but cases involving regulatory power and zoning can have huge environmental repercussions. Thus, this list may seem over-inclusive, but that is the reason.
Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (1926) local government's zoning ordinance was constitutional exercise of government's police power.
Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission, 354 F.2d 608, (2d Cir. 1965), cert. denied, 384 U.S. 941 (1966) seminal case in which plaintiffs with demonstrable environmental interests had standing to sue and could present expert testimony on scenic values balanced against economic and development ones
Calvert Cliffs Coordinating Committee v. AEC, 449 F. 2d 1109 (1971) sets forth guidelines with which an agency's decision-making process must comply, under NEPA
Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727 (1972) grants persons with little or no economic interest but with a demonstrated public concern standing to bring suit and intervene in the federal courts
Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad Company v. SCRAP, 412 U.S. 669 (1973).
Just v. Marinette County, 201 N.W. 2nd 761 (1972) property owners challenged county wetland protection ordinance as unconstitutional taking without compensation; court upheld ordinance as