ELR Citation: ELR 20428
No(s). 15054 (D. Conn. May 10, 1974)

The requirements of NEPA do not apply to a proposed highway segment in Connecticut which the state intends to finance with state funds, even though federal funds have already been spent on planning the project. The project remains eligible for further federal funding, and a connecting segment of the larger highway project is conceded to be a major federal action requiring NEPA compliance. The fact that federal funds were used to build a bridge spur at the point where the segment connects with a federally funded interstate highway, and that the two highway routes in fact overlap for three miles, does not change the nonfederal character of the segment. Nor does the expenditure of federal funds for planning make the highway a federal action, given the insignificant amount involved (less than $50,000) and the totally preliminary purposes of the funding. The court rules that FHwA route revision approval for the project, in addition to continued conformity by state highway officials with federal requirements so as to preserve eligibility for federal funding, is not sufficient to constitute a federal action within the meaning of NEPA. Although the segment in question is indisputably part of a larger federally funded highway, it represents a legitimate exercise of segmentation since this portion of the larger highway will carry local traffic between two major towns, and thus has an independent justification for its construction. The court notes that preparation of an environmental impact statement for the entire highway corridor has already been ordered, and denies plaintiffs' motion to extend a prior injunction requiring NEPA compliance to the state funded segment.

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Haynes N. Johnson
Bryan, Parmalee, Johnson & Bollinger
460 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06901

Harvey D. Carter, Jr.
Williams, Witten, Carter & Wickes
Box 88
Bennington, VT 05201

Counsel for Defendants
Clement J. Kichuk Asst. Attorney General
Room 543 State Office Building
Hartford, CT 06115

William J. Lynch
U.S. Department of Transportation
Wethersfield, CT 06109