Water Resources Development Act of 2007

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: National Wildlife Federation v. United States Army Corps of Engineers

Case No.: 22-1466

Officials: Hamilton, Scudder, and Pryor, Circuit Judges

Focus: Water Resources Development Act of 2007

The Middle Mississippi spans 195 miles, starting from St. Louis, Missouri, where the Missouri River meets the Mississippi, and ending at Cairo, Illinois, where the Ohio River merges with the Mississippi, effectively doubling its flow. To maintain a channel suitable for commercial traffic, the 1910 Rivers and Harbors Act empowered the Army Corps of Engineers to construct permanent river training structures and conduct additional dredging in the Middle Mississippi region. Over the years, the Corps has built and maintained various structures such as dikes, jetties, and chevrons to ensure a minimum depth of nine feet and width of 300 feet for commercial navigation.

In 1976, adhering to the National Environmental Policy Act, the Corps prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS) to assess the ecological effects of the project. In 2013, the Corps decided to update its 1976 EIS due to newly designated threatened and endangered species, as well as new information on the impacts of river training structures and dredging. Ultimately, the Corps chose the “Continue Construction Alternative” in the final supplemental EIS and record of decision. However, since the exact locations and types of future river training structures were yet to be determined, the supplemental statement evaluated environmental impacts at a programmatic level and planned to perform site-specific environmental assessments before proceeding with additional river training structures.

Environmental groups challenged this decision, but the Seventh Circuit upheld the government’s summary judgment, dismissing arguments that the supplemental EIS did not comply with the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 or the National Environmental Policy Act.

Affirmed

Decided 08/01/23

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