ELR Citation: ELR 20017
No(s). 04-3720 (6th Cir. Jan 24, 2006)

The court upholds the dismissal of a city's claims challenging dredge and fill permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) under the Clean Water Act for an airport expansion project in Cleveland, Ohio. The Corps properly relied on the state agency's express waiver of authority to act on the §401 application. Nor did the Corps err in issuing a permit without first deciding whether the federal antidegradation rule was satisfied. The federal antidegradation rule only places obligations on states, not on the Corps. In addition, compensatory mitigation is an acceptable form of mitigation to offset the environmental degradation of streams and creeks, and it was unnecessary for the district court to consult with the Water Quality Standards Handbook. And because the court could find no error with the Corps' conclusion that water quality would improve as a result of the project or with the Corps' reliance on the state agency as to other mitigation required by the permit, the Corps did not act in an arbitrary or capricious fashion when it issued the permit.