NEPA documents from the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic
Citizen’s Guide to Environmental Protection
Brief supporting summary judgment that the U.S. Army Corps violated NEPA when issuing permit to destroy wetlands (Loretto O’Reilly and Kelly Fitzmaurice v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 06-10788 (E.D. La.)
(110-005) (1/16/07)
Motion papers seeking summary judgment that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to turn the Industrial Canal into a deep-draft canal violates the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. (Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and Gulf Restoration Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 10-1715 (E.D. La.) (112-004.1)(3/28/11)
Comments on behalf of Save Our Hills et al. to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Opposing issuance to Southern Aggregates LLC of a Clean Water Act § 404 permit for destruction of 12.91 acres of wetlands in conjunction with a sand and gravel mine adjacent to the Oak Hills residential subdivision in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, and urging the Corps to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)) (184-001) (Mar. 30, 2015)
Atchafalaya Basinkeeper and Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association v. Bostick, No. 14-649 (E.D. La.) (Alleging that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to use a regional general permit to authorize a wetlands fill project violates the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act) (155-005.2) (3/20/14)
Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association – West, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, and Louisiana Environmental Action Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers., No. 11-cv-461 (W.D. La., March 22, 2011) (consolidated with Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association – West v. Mallard Basin, Inc., No. 10-cv-1085) (Alleging that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Administrative Procedure Act when it issued after-the-fact dredge and fill permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act for a project that altered over 600 acres of swamp in Louisiana black bear critical habitat in the Atchafalaya Basin) (155-004) (3-22-11)
Holy Cross Neighborhood Association et al. v. U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers, No. 10-cv-1715 (E.D. La.) (Alleging that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Industrial Canal lock replacement project violates the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act) (112-004.1) (6/10/10)
Concerned Citizens Coalition v. Federal Highway Administration, No. 03-292-A-M2 (M. D. La.) (Alleging that the Federal Highway Administration violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and § 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act when approving construction of an elevated highway through the heart of Lafayette’s historic district)
(145-001) (4/15/03)
Order, Holy Cross Neighborhood Association et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 10-cv-1715 (E.D. La.) (The Court granted summary judgment that the Corps violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act by selecting a “deep-draft” plan for its billion dollar Industrial Canal lock replacement project without considering the effect of closure of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet on the need for a deep-draft canal. The Court noted: “On its face this seems to be the proverbial bridge to nowhere; namely, constructing a deep-draft lock which will never be used by deep-draft traffic.”) (112-004.1) (9/9/11)
Order and Reasons, Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and Gulf Restoration Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 03-0370 (E.D. La.) (Finding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “failed to take a “hard look” at the environmental impacts and consequences of dredging and disposing of the [Industrial] canal’s contaminated sediment” and enjoining the Corps “from continuing with the Project until it complies with NEPA.” (112-002) (10/4/06)
Opinion, Loretto O’Reilly, Hazel Sinclair and Kelly Fitzmaurice v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 04-31026 (5th Cir.) (Upholding a district court’s finding that the U.S. Army Corps violated NEPA when approving a proposed subdivision (“Timber Branch II”) that would destroy 85 acres of forest, of which 39.5 acres are wetlands, in St. Tammany Parish) (110-004) (1/24/07)
Order, Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association – West v. Mallard Basin, Inc., No. 10-cv-1085, consolidated with Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association – West v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers., No. 11-cv-461 (“Discovery is allowed in NEPA cases.”) (155-004) (12/10/14)
Notice of Intent to Sue Regarding the Industrial Canal Lock Replacement Project (Alleging on behalf of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association and others that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Industrial Canal lock replacement project violates the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (112-004.1) (Jan. 19, 2010)
Partial Settlement Agreement, Coalition for Louisiana Animal Advocates v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, No. 01-31361 (5th Cir.) (Requiring the U.S. Army to refrain from roundup and removal of wild horses in the Kisatchie Forest until complying with the National Environmental Policy Act) (137-001)(7/25/02)
NEPA docket of the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic (Jan 2016)
Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association–West, and the Gulf Restoration Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers., No. 2:15-cv-06982 (E.D. La. Dec. 22, 2015) (challenging a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decision to reissue New Orleans District General Permit No. 13 without the environmental reviews or public notice required under the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act) (155-017)
Atchafalaya Basinkeeper and Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association v. Bostick, No. 14-649 (E.D. La. March 20, 2014) (Alleging that by authorizing a wetlands fill project under an inapplicable regional general permit and by failing to consider cumulative environmental impacts, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision violates the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act) (155-005.2) (Adverse decision June 19, 2015)
Center for Biological Diversity v. Salazar, No. 10-60417 (5th Cir., May 27, 2010) (challenging approval by the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service of 11 plans for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico without the consideration of environmental impacts that the National Environmental Policy Act requires) (683 F.3d 158) (169-001) Unfavorable Ruling May 30, 2012
Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, Gulf Restoration Network, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Citizens Against Widening the Industrial Canal, and Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers, No. 10- cv-1715 (E.D. La., June 10, 2010) (Alleging that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Industrial Canal lock replacement project violates the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act because, among other things, the Corps failed to consider reducing disposal of contaminated dredged spoil by about half by implementing a “shallow draft” alternative—even though the Corps assumed there will be “no deep draft benefits associated with the authorized plan over the period of analysis.”) (2011 WL 4015694; 774 F.Supp.2d 806), (112-004.1) Favorable Judgment Sept. 13, 2011.
Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and Gulf Restoration Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 03-0370 (E.D. La., Feb. 6, 2003) (Seeking abatement under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of the Corps’ plans to dredge contaminated sediments in the Inner Harbor Navigational Canal and seeking a supplemental environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act to analyze the effects of dredging and disposal of dredged sediments) (112-002) Favorable ruling Oct. 6, 2006 (455 F. Supp.2d 532) Appeal dismissed July 30, 2007
Concerned Citizens Coalition v. Federal Highway Administration, No. 04-30991 (5th Cir., Oct. 11, 2004) (Appealing the district court’s judgment for the Federal Highway Administration in a case alleging that the agency violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and § 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act in approving construction of an elevated highway (I-49) through the historic heart of Lafayette) (145-002) Adverse Judgment June 22, 2005
Concerned Citizens Coalition v. Federal Highway Administration, No. 03-292-A-M2 (M.D. La., April 16, 2003) (Alleging that the Federal Highway Administration violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and § 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act when approving construction of an elevated highway (I-49) through the heart of Lafayette’s historic district) (145-001) Adverse Judgment Aug. 9, 2004 (330 F. Supp.2d 787)
Coalition of Louisiana Animal Advocates v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, No.00-3539 (E.D. La. 2000) (Seeking an injunction to prevent the U.S. Army and U.S. Forest Service from removing an entire population of wild horses from the Kisatchie National Forest alleging violations of the Wild Horses and Burros Act and the National Environmental Protection Act) (137-001) Adverse Judgment Aug. 17, 2001