ELR Citation: 56 ELR 20045
No(s). 24-00381-BAJ-EWD (M.D. La. Mar 31, 2026) (Jackson, J.)

A district court granted in part and denied in part nonprofit groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers' authorization of a wetland project in the Atchafalaya Basin. The groups argued the Corps violated the CWA and NEPA because it lacked sufficient support for its finding that the project would neither have a significant impact on the environment nor violate the CWA 404(b)(1) Guidelines, failed to sufficiently evaluate alternative sites, failed to issue a supplemental EIS, improperly reached a FONSI, and improperly determined CWA compensatory mitigation was not required. The court found that the Corps' decision document did not provide adequate support for its finding that the project would neither violate the CWA nor have a significant impact, that its alternatives analysis fell below the standard set by the CWA and NEPA, that it was not required to supplement the 1982 EIS, that it was not currently required to prepare an EIS for the project, and that it improperly determined the project did not require compensatory mitigation. It vacated the Corps' issuance of the permit, permanently enjoined the permit until the Corps addresses the deficiencies in its decision document, remanded to the Corps, and stayed the matter to allow the Corps to rectify the deficiencies.