ELR Citation: 53 ELR 20015
No(s). 8:20-cv-287-CEH-JSS (M.D. Fla. Jan 20, 2023) (Honeywell, J.)

A district court adopted a magistrate judge's recommendation to deny summary judgment for an environmental group in a lawsuit concerning the Army Corps of Engineers' issuance of a CWA §404 permit for a roadway expansion project in Florida. The group argued the Corps violated the CWA by failing to rebut the presumption that there were practicable alternatives that did not involve specific aquatic sites; and NEPA by relying on old data when it concluded the project would not significantly impact the environment, failing to look at the cumulative impact of reasonably foreseeable development on adjacent properties, and basing its mitigation on inadequate analysis. The magistrate judge found the group had not met its burden of proof to establish that the Corps violated NEPA and failed to establish that the Corps acted arbitrarily and capriciously in analyzing alternatives under the CWA. The court agreed, finding that the Corps' evaluation of alternative sites in light of the project's overall purpose was reasonable, that it did not fail to take a hard look at the project's impacts on wildlife despite relying on older data, and that it fulfilled its cumulative impacts obligations under NEPA. It adopted the magistrate judge's recommendation, denied summary judgment for the group, and granted the Corps' cross-motion.