ELR Citation: ELR 21481
No(s). 90-1928 (5th Cir. Sep 6, 1991)

The court holds that the Army Corps of Engineers may proceed with construction of a flood control levee on the Upper Yazoo River without supplementing a 1975 programmatic final environmental impact statement (EIS) with an EIS for the levee project. A private landowner whose property would be condemned for construction of the levee alleged that the Corps had violated the National Environmental Policy Act in failing to issue a supplemental EIS for the project. The court holds that the district court erred in requiring preparation of a new EIS absent a finding of "significant new circumstances" bearing on the environmental impact of the proposed action. The court holds that such a finding is necessary under Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) requirements to support an order for a supplemental EIS for the levee. The court concludes that an EIS need not be supplemented whenever new information concerning a project comes to light; nor does the Corps need to update an EIS when portions of it become outdated. In a footnote, the court observes that even though the Corps admitted that the 1975 EIS was outdated, the term "outdated" is not a term of art in the CEQ regulations.

[Briefs in this case are digested at ELR PEND. LIT. 66140 and 66145.]

Counsel for Plaintiffs-Appellees
Tim Waycaster
403 S. State St., Jackson MS 39225
(601) 355-3910

Counsel for Defendants-Appellants
William B. Lazarus
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

Before KING, JOHNSON, and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.