ELR Citation: 50 ELR 20176
No(s). 1:17-cv-04843-ERK-RLM (E.D.N.Y. Jul 17, 2020) (Korman, J.)

A district court denied summary judgment for New York in a challenge to EPA's designation of the eastern Long Island Sound as an open-water dredge disposal site. New York argued EPA's determination that a new site was needed to service the eastern Sound was arbitrary and capricious, that the Agency failed to adequately consider potential interference with shipping and navigation, that the Agency arbitrarily decided to designate a new site rather than relying on historically used sites, that the Agency failed to consider the pollutive effects of disposing dredged materials from small nonfederal projects, and that the Agency's designation of the eastern site as a permanent dredged material disposal site was not consistent to the maximum extent practicable with the state's coastal zone management program. The court found that EPA based its findings on substantive evidence and followed its obligations under the APA, the Marine Protection, Research, and Safety Act, and the CZMA. It therefore denied New York's motion for summary judgment and granted EPA's cross-motion.