ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20092
No(s). 21-cv-096-wmc and 21-cv-306 (W.D. Wis. Aug 4, 2022) (Conley, J.)

A district court denied a request by conservation groups to halt all construction on a transmission line project from Iowa to Wisconsin pending the transmission companies' appeal of a prior order enjoining construction of a section of the line across the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The groups initially argued the project's EIS violated NEPA; that FWS' right-of-way permit and compatibility determination violated the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act; and that the Army Corps of Engineers violated NEPA, the ESA, and the CWA by issuing general permits for the project. The district court found that the EIS was insufficient, that the project was not compatible with the purposes of the refuge, and that a land transfer through the refuge would not be permissible, but that the CWA permits issued by the Corps were legally acceptable. It entered judgment for the groups and preliminarily enjoined "any work impacting jurisdictional waters of the United States." The companies appealed and the groups sought to permanently enjoin all construction on the project, but the appellate court declined the groups' request pending review by the district court. The district court found that the groups failed to show it was permissible, much less necessary, to halt construction on sections of the line that fell outside the refuge, and thus was not convinced that a sweeping injunction on all transmission line construction was appropriate. It did, however, warn the companies that it would not be persuaded to allow construction in protected areas simply because they chose to construct other sections of the line without assurances the refuge crossing would be approved.