ELR Citation: 50 ELR 20256
No(s). 19-6071 (W.D. Wash. Nov 23, 2020) (Bryan, J.)

A district court granted in part and denied in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers' approval of permits for a methanol plant in southwestern Washington. The groups argued that the Corps' EA was insufficient, that the agency should have prepared an EIS, and that it failed to properly assess the public's interest in the plant. The court found the Corps failed to consider the "reasonably foreseeable" indirect and cumulative impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from the plant in its EA, that its failure to prepare an EIS violated NEPA, and that its failure to correctly assess the public's interest in the plant violated the CWA and the Rivers and Harbors Act. The groups also argued the Corps' consultation with NMFS resulted in a flawed incidental take statement from the Service in violation of the ESA, but the court rejected that claim. The court therefore denied summary judgment to the groups with respect to the groups' ESA claim, but granted summary judgment with respect to all other claims.