ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20011
No(s). 21-cv-096-wmc and 21-cv-306 (W.D. Wis. Jan 14, 2022) (Conley, J.)

A district court halted construction of a proposed high-voltage transmission line through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. Environmental groups challenged FWS' original compatibility determination for the transmission line, which granted utility companies a right-of-way through the refuge but was subsequently withdrawn, arguing the companies could request another such determination. The court found that the transmission line's proposed crossing could not be deemed compatible with the refuge, and that any FWS decision to the contrary would be arbitrary and capricious. The groups then challenged the companies' attempted land exchange with FWS as an alternative to a right-of-way. The court found that the land exchange was equally incompatible with the purposes of the refuge, and could not be used as a way to evade Congress' mandate under the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act. The groups also argued that USDA's Rural Utilities Service failed in its review of the transmission line under NEPA by too narrowly defining the purposes of the line to avoid having to consider reasonable alternatives. The court found the purpose statement, which drastically narrowed the alternatives reviewed in the EIS, failed to comply with NEPA. It declared that the compatibility determination precluded the transmission line from crossing the refuge by right-of-way or land transfer.