Monday, May 3, 2021
U.S. District Court Rejects Appeal of Corps 404 Permit and Biological Opinion as Collateral Attack on FERC License Amendment Order
In
Save the Colorado v. Semonite, U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello ruled that the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado did not have jurisdiction to hear a challenge by environmental groups to a Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), or an associated biological opinion under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), for the City and County of Denver’s proposed dam raise and reservoir expansion. In a March 31 order, the district court dismissed the case, finding that the exclusive forum for challenging the dam raise was in the U.S. court of appeals because both agency approvals were “inextricably intertwined” with a license amendment granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under the Federal Power Act (FPA). The case is notable because, although there is considerable precedent prohibiting collateral challenges to federal agency actions that establish conditions FERC must include in its licensing decision, such as biological opinions, the court expanded that doctrine to include an agency permit, here the Corps’ 404 permit, issued under entirely independent regulatory authority.