ELR Citation: ELR 20438
No(s). s. 86-7014 et al (11th Cir. Dec 31, 1987)

The court holds that environmental groups challenging the Alabama Department of Environmental Management's (ADEM's) procedures for issuing coastal construction permits are not aggrieved parties under Alabama law. The court rules that only those persons who own land affected by the issuance of a construction permit are aggrieved. Aesthetic, environmental, or recreational concerns alone do not confer aggrieved party status. The court notes that even if plaintiffs were aggrieved parties, ADEM's notice procedures satisfy federal due process requirements. The public is notified of permit applications in two local newspapers, and ADEM provides direct written notice of final agency action on specific permit applications to anyone who requests it.

[District court decisions are published at 17 ELR 20092 and 20537.]

Counsel for Plaintiffs-Appellees
L. Gilbert Kendrick
Moore, Kendrick, Glassroth, Harris, Bush & White
410 S. Perry St., Montgomery AL 36103
(205) 264-9900

Frederick S. Middleton III
Southern Environmental Law Center
201 W. Main St., Charlottesville VA 22901
(703) 977-4090

Counsel for Defendants-Appellants
David R. Broome
McDonough & Broome
1400 First Nat'l Bank Bldg., P.O. Box 1943, Mobile AL 36633
(205) 432-3296

David R. Boyd
Balch & Bingham
The Winter Bldg., 2 Dexter Ave., Montgomery AL 36101
(205) 834-6500

Before HILL and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges, and ARONOVITZ^[*], District Judge.