Ruckelshaus, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency v. Sierra Club et al.

Decided July 1, 1983. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-242 · 463 U.S. 680 (1983) · Cited 800 times

Holding

Absent some degree of success on the merits by the claimant, it is not "appropriate" for a federal court to award attorney's fees under 307(f).

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society · 421 U.S. 240 (1975)
• Hensley v. Eckerhart · 461 U.S. 424 (1983)
• Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill · 437 U.S. 153 (1978)
• United States v. Turkette · 452 U.S. 576 (1981)
• Indian Towing Co. v. United States · 350 U.S. 61 (1955)
• Northcross v. Memphis Board of Education · 412 U.S. 427 (1973)
• McMahon v. United States · 342 U.S. 25 (1951)
• Eastern Transportation Co. v. United States · 272 U.S. 675 (1927)
• Canadian Aviator, Ltd. v. United States · 324 U.S. 215 (1945)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Peter v. NantKwest, Inc. · 589 U.S. 23 (2019)
• United States v. Nordic Village, Inc. · 503 U.S. 30 (1992)
• Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council for Clean Air · 483 U.S. 711 (1987)
• United States Department of Energy v. Ohio · 503 U.S. 607 (1992)
• Farrar v. Hobby · 506 U.S. 103 (1992)
• Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc. · 510 U.S. 517 (1994)
• Library of Congress v. Shaw · 478 U.S. 310 (1986)
• Marx v. General Revenue Corp. · 568 U.S. 371 (2013)
• Ardestani v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 502 U.S. 129 (1991)
• Federal Aviation Administration v. Cooper · 566 U.S. 284 (2012)
• Richlin Security Service Co. v. Chertoff · 553 U.S. 571 (2008)
• United States v. IDAHO Ex Rel. DIRECTOR, IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES · 508 U.S. 1 (1993)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).