Challenges to Federal Acts

Question 1

Court found that the 1875 General Railroad Right-of-Way Act grants an easement for the railroad’s land. When the railroad company abandons the land, it should be settled as an easement and if the easement is abandoned, the easement disappears and the land reverts to the previous owner.

Answer 1

Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States (2013)

Question 2

Court held that the EPA must provide a reasonable justification for why it would not regulate greenhouse gases.

Answer 2

Massachusetts v. EPA, Inc.; U.S. Supreme Court (2006)

Question 3

Court found that the Army Corp. of Engineers must determine whether there is a significant nexus between a wetland and a navigable waterway.

Answer 3

Rapanos v. United States; U.S. Supreme Court (2006)

Question 4

Court found that hydroelectric damsa re subject to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act.

Answer 4

SD Warren v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection; U.S. Supreme Court (2006)

Question 5

Court held tehat Disparate Impact is the appropriate standard to be applied to the Fair Housing Act. Policies that (even inadvertently) regualte minorities to poor areas violate the Fair Housing Act.

Answer 5

Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project Inc.; v. U.S. Supreme Court (2015)