ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20115
No(s). 20-3817 (CKK) and 21-0189 (CKK) (D.D.C. Oct 7, 2022) (Kollar-Kotelly, J.)

A district court denied summary judgment for environmental and tribal groups in a challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to issue permits under the CWA and the Rivers and Harbors Act for a project to replace sections of an oil pipeline in Minnesota. The groups argued the Corps' decision violated NEPA, the CWA, the Rivers and Harbors Act, and the Corps' permitting regulations. The court found that it was appropriate for the Corps to tailor its NEPA analysis to address environmental effects associated with the activities it permitted, and to evaluate and incorporate the state's EIS into its findings without repeating the state's analysis or discussion; and that the Corps' EA took a sufficiently "hard look" at the project's contributions to climate change, environmental justice concerns, tribal rights, effects on species and habitat, and reasonable alternatives. It further found that the Corps complied with its CWA obligations to consider practical alternatives, address whether discharged dredge or fill material would cause significant degradation, and evaluate appropriate public interest factors. It denied summary judgment for the groups, and granted the Corps' cross-motion.