ELR Citation: 53 ELR 20065
No(s). 21-1085 (4th Cir. Apr 19, 2023)

The Fourth Circuit, 2-1, vacated a district court ruling in a lawsuit concerning the Army Corps of Engineers' plan for maintaining a dam on the Savannah River. The state of South Carolina argued the Corps' plan violated the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act because it would lower the elevation of the "pool" the dam created from the level that existed when the Act was enacted. The Corps moved to dismiss, arguing the WIIN Act did not require it to maintain the pool at a specific level but rather to preserve its use "for water supply and recreational activities" as it existed on the day of enactment. The district court found the Act unambiguously required the Corps to maintain the pool at a very precise level—the level that existed on the day the Act was adopted—and that the agency's plan exceeded its statutory authority. The appellate court disagreed, finding the lower court should have focused instead on whether the pool would be maintained for the purposes that existed when Congress passed the Act—water supply and recreational activities—regardless of its precise elevation. It vacated the district court ruling and remanded for further proceedings.