Monongahela Power Company v. John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, Department of the Army, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor. Monongahela Power Company v. John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, Department of the Army, the Sierra Club, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor. Monongahela Power Company v. John O. Marsh, Jr., State of West Virginia, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor

809 F.2d 41, 17 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20422, 257 U.S. App. D.C. 345, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 951
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedJanuary 13, 1987
Docket81-1201
StatusPublished

This text of 809 F.2d 41 (Monongahela Power Company v. John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, Department of the Army, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor. Monongahela Power Company v. John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, Department of the Army, the Sierra Club, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor. Monongahela Power Company v. John O. Marsh, Jr., State of West Virginia, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Monongahela Power Company v. John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, Department of the Army, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor. Monongahela Power Company v. John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, Department of the Army, the Sierra Club, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor. Monongahela Power Company v. John O. Marsh, Jr., State of West Virginia, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor, 809 F.2d 41, 17 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20422, 257 U.S. App. D.C. 345, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 951 (D.C. Cir. 1987).

Opinion

809 F.2d 41

257 U.S.App.D.C. 345, 17 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,422

MONONGAHELA POWER COMPANY, et al.
v.
John O. MARSH, Jr., Secretary, Department of the Army, et
al., Appellants,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor.
MONONGAHELA POWER COMPANY, et al.
v.
John O. MARSH, Jr., Secretary, Department of the Army, et
al., The Sierra Club, et al., Appellants,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor.
MONONGAHELA POWER COMPANY, et al.
v.
John O. MARSH, Jr., State of West Virginia, Appellant,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Intervenor.

Nos. 81-1201, 81-1203 and 81-1282.

United States Court of Appeals,
District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued June 18, 1982.
Decided Jan. 13, 1987.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Civil Action No. 78-01712).

James C. Kilbourne, Atty., Dept. of Justice, with whom Carol E. Dinkins, Asst. Atty. Gen., Anne S. Almy and Peter R. Steenland, Jr., Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., were on the brief, for John O. Marsh, Jr., Secretary, Dept. of the Army, et al., appellants in No. 81-1201 and appellees in Nos. 81-1203 and 81-1282.

Ronald J. Wilson, Washington, D.C., for Sierra Club, et al., appellants in Nos. 81-1201 and 81-1203 and appellees in No. 81-1282.

Dennis M. Abrams, Deputy Atty. Gen., State of W. Va., with whom Chauncey H. Browning, Atty. Gen., State of W. Va., Charleston, W.Va., was on the brief, for State of W. Va., appellant in No. 81-1282 and appellee in Nos. 81-1201 and 81-1203.

David I. Granger, with whom Barry J. Israel, Washington, D.C., was on the brief, for Monongahela Power Co., Washington, D.C., et al., appellees in Nos. 81-1201, 81-1203, and 81-1282.

Andrea Wolfman, Atty., F.E.R.C., with whom Charles A. Moore, Gen. Counsel, and Jerome M. Feit, Sol., F.E.R.C., Washington, D.C., were on the brief, for F.E.R.C., intervenor in Nos. 81-1201, 81-1203, and 81-1282.

Before ROBINSON, Circuit Judge, BAZELON, Senior Circuit Judge,* and GASCH,** Senior District Judge.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge SPOTTSWOOD W. ROBINSON, III.

SPOTTSWOOD W. ROBINSON, III, Circuit Judge:

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972,1 in Section 301(a), make generally unlawful the discharge of any pollutant into the navigable waters of the United States.2 This legislation, however, in Section 404(a), authorizes the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to issue permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material into navigable waters at specified disposal sites.3 The single issue posed by these consolidated appeals is whether a permit is required to discharge fill material into navigable waters during construction of a hydroelectric facility previously licensed by the Federal Power Commission (FPC).4 The District Court answered that question in the negative.5 We disagree.

* Monongahela Power Company, on behalf of Allegheny Power System, Inc., applied to FPC for a license to construct a 1000-megawatt pumped-storage hydroelectric facility on the Blackwater River in the Canaan Valley of Tucker County, West Virginia.6 This project contemplates erection of two dams creating two reservoirs, which would inundate more than 7,000 acres of freshwater wetlands.7

An initial decision by an administrative law judge denied the application, finding that the project would devastate the wetlands as a unique and diverse botanical and wildlife habitat.8 FPC, however, concluded that these admitted losses, though substantial, could be mitigated,9 and accordingly issued the license.10

The project's sponsors, with the Commission's license in hand, then applied to the Army Corps of Engineers for a Section 404(a) permit authorizing them to discharge fill material into navigable waters in the course of construction of the planned hydroelectric facility.11 The Corps held public hearings, received written comments, and issued a decision denying the permit on the ground that the project would have an unacceptably adverse impact on the Canaan Valley wetlands, and could not be justified on the basis of feasible alternatives.12

The Monongahela group then instituted this litigation in the District Court against the Secretary of the Army and other officials.13 Although Monongahela had invoked the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers in its quest for the permit, it now claimed that the Corps had no power to require a permit of an FPC-licensed project.14 On cross-motions for the summary judgment, the District Court ruled in favor of Monongahela.15 Reaching only the jurisdictional question,16 the court held that the Corps had no authority to regulate discharges incidental to construction of Monongahela's hydroelectric facility because FPC had already licensed it.17 Our review thus extends only to that determination.18

Monongahela's position, which the District Court accepted, rests on the premise that beginning with the Federal Water Power Act of 1920,19 Congress consolidated administrative authority over hydroelectric projects, and vested it originally in FPC and thereafter in FERC, its successor.20 The opposing argument is predicated upon the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972,21 which in Section 301(a) broadly declare unlawful "the discharge of any pollutant by any person,"22 and then in Section 404(a) require a permit from the Corps for any discharge of dredged or fill material into navigable waters.23 The Secretary points out that Congress expressly exempted enumerated activities from the permit requirement24 and alluded to no intention to except FPC-licensed hydroelectric projects therefrom.25 Consequently, the Secretary contends, there is no room for imposition of an implied dispensation for the statutory scheme.

II

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809 F.2d 41, 17 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20422, 257 U.S. App. D.C. 345, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 951, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/monongahela-power-company-v-john-o-marsh-jr-secretary-department-of-cadc-1987.