Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/484/495/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 04:44:13+00:00

Document:
In 1982, petitioner ETSI Pipeline Project entered into a 40-year contract with petitioner Secretary of the Interior to withdraw up to a certain amount of water per year from Lake Oahe, a reservoir located on the Missouri River in South Dakota, for use in an interstate coal slurry pipeline. Respondents Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska filed suit in Federal District Court to enjoin performance of the contract, alleging that, under the Flood Control Act of 1944 (Act), the Interior Secretary lacked authority to execute a contract to provide water from the reservoir for industrial uses without obtaining the approval of the Secretary of the Army. Pursuant to the Act, the Oahe Reservoir was built by the Corps of Engineers, now part of the Department of the Army (successor of the Department of War), which has always maintained and operated the reservoir. The Act was directed to both flood control and navigation matters that concerned the War Department and reclamation and irrigation problems that concerned the Interior Department, thus also implicating the tensions between the Upper Missouri River Basin States' interests in irrigation and reclamation and the interests of the Lower Basin States (including respondents) in flood control. The District Court ruled for respondents, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
Held: The Secretary of the Interior exceeded the authority Congress delegated to him by the Act. Pp. 484 U. S. 505-517.
irrigation pursuant to the Act's terms -- the record supporting the District Court's findings that there was no such allocation or use of the reservoir's water for irrigation -- the Army Secretary has exclusive authority to contract to remove water for industrial use. Pp. 484 U. S. 505-509.
(b) There is no merit to petitioners' contention that the Act's provisions approving general comprehensive plans for projects to be operated by both the Interior and Army Departments represent congressional approval of any functional division of authority between those Departments and allows the Interior Secretary unilaterally to remove water from Army reservoirs for irrigation purposes and for other related uses. Such contention is wide of the mark in view of the Act's specific jurisdictional provisions discussed above as to the use of Army reservoirs, and is grounded on a misuse of the legislative history. There is no indication that control over individual reservoirs was to be divided among various Departments of the Federal Government. Nor is petitioners' argument supported by a provision of the Act stating that reclamation and power developments to be undertaken by the Interior Secretary shall be governed by federal reclamation laws, which authorize him to reallocate water under his control for industrial use. Such provision of the Act applies only to projects that the Interior Department itself may undertake under the Act. But as the District Court found, the reservoir project engineered by the Army at Oahe is neither a power development nor a reclamation development undertaken by the Interior Secretary. Moreover, there is no merit to petitioners' contention that, although the Interior Department must consult with the Army Department before withdrawing water for industrial use from the Oahe Reservoir, the Interior Department can proceed without the Army Department's approval as long as the latter does not object. Pp. 484 U. S. 509-515.
(c) It is unnecessary to consider petitioners' contention that deference to the Interior Secretary's interpretation of the Act is appropriate here, and their related arguments about the history of relations between the Army and Interior Departments under the Act, for even if the Interior Department's interpretation would be entitled to any deference in these circumstances, the Executive Branch is not permitted to administer the Act in a manner that is inconsistent with the administrative structure that Congress enacted into law. The Act speaks directly to the dispute, and congressional intent as expressed in the Act indicates clearly that the Interior Secretary may not enter into a contract to withdraw water from an Army reservoir for industrial use without the approval of the Army Department. Pp. 484 U. S. 515-517.
WHITE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which all other Members joined, except KENNEDY, J., who took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
We must decide whether, in the circumstances of this case, the Secretary of the Interior has exceeded the authority Congress delegated to him by the Flood Control Act of 1944.
that the Act does not empower the Interior Secretary to furnish water from Lake Oahe for industrial use.
The Court of Appeals affirmed, with one judge dissenting. Missouri v. Andrews, 787 F.2d 270 (CA8 1986). It upheld the District Court's conclusion that Lake Oahe is not a reclamation development undertaken by the Interior Secretary, primarily because the Army built the reservoir and controls its operation. Accordingly, the Interior Secretary cannot contract on his own to withdraw water from the reservoir for industrial use. Neither the language nor the legislative history of the Act was thought to support the claim that the Interior Secretary was ceded broad authority over water in this reservoir, even water that it claims has been designated as available for future irrigation purposes. Indeed, the language of the Act and its legislative history were found to be convincing enough on this point that the Court of Appeals refused to defer to the Interior Secretary's contrary interpretation.
The Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing en banc by an equally divided vote of the judges. We granted certiorari, 480 U.S. 905 (1987), and we now affirm.
this region is to control flooding. See generally M. Ridgeway, The Missouri Basin's Pick-Sloan Plan 47-55 (1955). In the early 1940's, Congress focused its attention on the water problems of the Missouri River Basin, prompted especially by severe floods that had devastated the lower Basin in 1943 and 1944.
"would also provide for the most efficient utilization of the waters of the Missouri River Basin for all purposes, including irrigation, navigation, power, domestic and sanitary purposes, wildlife, and recreation,"
as well as other intangible benefits. H.R. Doc. No. 475, 78th Cong., 2d Sess., 29 (1944) (H.R. Doc.). The report estimated the gross storage capacity of the Oahe Reservoir at about 6 million acre-feet of water.
water. The Sloan Plan also contained a section comparing its provisions to those in the Pick Plan and suggesting modifications to the Pick Plan "which appear necessary to satisfy water use requirements throughout the Missouri River Basin." S. Doc. No.191, 78th Cong., 2d Sess., 120 (1944) (S. Doc.). This section concluded that, though "the capacity of individual reservoirs, as well as aggregate capacities, remain to be determined in greater detail," the "Army and Reclamation plans on storage needs for all purposes can be composed." Id. at 122-123.
The Pick and Sloan Plans differed with one another not only in their primary objectives, but also in several other important respects, such as the amount of expenditures and the number of projects. The engineering features of the two plans also were dissimilar. On the main stem of the Missouri River, the two plans called for different numbers of reservoirs of divergent sizes, and thus for inconsistent amounts of total water storage. Even where the two plans agreed on the need for a particular reservoir at a particular location, which they did at Oahe and at Fort Randall, they envisioned those projects very differently; as noted above, for example, the Sloan Plan proposed that Lake Oahe would hold more than three times as much water as called for in the Pick Plan, at an additional cost of more than $20 million.
"the irrigation of 750,000 acres of land in the James River Basin, as well as to provide useful storage for flood control, navigation, the development of hydroelectric power, and other purposes."
S. Doc. No. 247, 78th Cong., 2d Sess., 3 (1944). As had been proposed in the Sloan Plan, the irrigation of the James River Basin was to be made possible by construction of a system of long canals, including one canal approximately 125 miles long. See S. Doc., at 115-116. With a single set of projects before it at last, Congress enacted the Flood Control Act of 1944 less than two months later.
"the initial stages recommended are hereby authorized and shall be prosecuted by the War Department and the Department of the Interior as speedily as may be consistent with budgetary requirements."
Ibid. Second, Congress appropriated funds to pay for the initial work done on those projects. Two separate allotments were authorized: $200 million "for the partial accomplishment of the works to be undertaken under said expanded plan by the Corps of Engineers," § 9(d), and another $200 million "for the partial accomplishment of the works to be undertaken under said plans by the Secretary of the Interior." § 9(e).
"recogniz[ing] the interests and rights of the States in determining the development of the watersheds within their borders and likewise their interests and rights in water utilization and control."
§ 1, as set forth in 33 U.S.C. § 701-1 (1952 ed.). The Act also implicated the tensions between the Upper Basin States and the Lower Basin States, whose interests in the use and control of the water were markedly different. Congress addressed this problem by providing that, when the Department of War undertook additional works not authorized by the Act, it would be required to consult and share information with the affected States and the Secretary of the Interior, depending on whether the works were located west of the 97th and 98th meridians. §§ 1(a) and (b). All projects proposed by the Interior Secretary that would involve construction of "works for irrigation" were made subject to a similar requirement, without regard to geographical location. § 1(c).
operate public park and recreational facilities in reservoir areas under the control of the War Department, and to permit the construction, maintenance, and operation of such facilities. The Secretary of War is authorized to grant leases of lands, including structure or facilities thereon, in reservoir areas for such periods and upon such terms as he shall deem reasonable." § 4, 16 U.S.C. § 460d (1946 ed.).
(2) "Electric power and energy generated at reservoir projects under the control of the War Department and in the opinion of the Secretary of War not required in the operation of such projects shall be delivered to the Secretary of the Interior, who shall transmit and dispose of such power and energy." § 5, 16 U.S.C. § 825s (1946 ed.).
(3) "That the Secretary of War is authorized to make contracts with States, municipalities, private concerns, or individuals, at such prices and on such terms as he may deem reasonable, for domestic and industrial uses for surplus water that may be available at any reservoir under the control of the War Department." § 6, 33 U.S.C. § 708 (1946 ed.).
(4) "Hereafter, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War to prescribe regulations for the use of storage allocated for flood control or navigation at all reservoirs constructed wholly or in part with Federal funds provided on the basis of such purposes, and the operation of any such project shall be in accordance with such regulations." § 7. See 33 U.S.C. § 709 (1946 ed.).
irrigation purposes only in conformity with the provisions of this section." § 8. See 43 U.S.C. § 390 (1946 ed.).
is unavoidable that, if the Interior Secretary wishes to remove water from an Army reservoir for any purpose, the approval of the Army Secretary must be secured.
"to make contracts with States, municipalities, private concerns, or individuals . . . for domestic and industrial uses for surplus water that may be available at any reservoir"
"is authorized to construct, operate, and maintain, under the provisions of [the Federal reclamation laws,] . . . such additional works in connection therewith as he may deem necessary for irrigation purposes."
Congress must grant "specific authorization" for the construction of any such additional works. Water from Army reservoirs "may be utilized hereafter for irrigation purposes only in conformity with the provisions of this section."
The petitioners seek to avert this conclusion by pointing to §§ 9(a) and (c) of the Act. Section 9(a) approves the "general comprehensive plans" set out in the Pick Plan and the Sloan Plan, as revised and coordinated by the final Senate Document, and authorizes the initial stages of those projects to be "prosecuted by the War Department and the Department of the Interior as speedily as may be consistent with budgetary requirements." The petitioners contend that this statement represents congressional approval of various aspects of the functional division of authority between the Army and Interior Departments that had been suggested in those plans; in particular, the petitioners suggest that this provision allows the Interior Secretary unilaterally to remove water from Army reservoirs for irrigation purposes and for other related uses.
made further refinements in how water could be used for irrigation, and yet did not offer the slightest indication that it was doing so. In any event, there is no reason to think that § 9(a) incorporates into the Act any additional indications about the proper division of authority between Army and Interior. On the contrary, its location in § 9 of the Act indicates that this provision was not intended as anything more than authorization for the two Departments to begin working on the projects listed in the final Senate Document. The other parts of § 9 merely harmonize the Act with existing laws and set out separate appropriations for Army and Interior to begin "the partial accomplishment of the works to be undertaken under said expanded plans," §§ 9(d) and (e), which indicates that this entire section of the Act encompasses only the necessary ministerial details to allow action to begin on the specified projects.
above, § 8 now provides that Army controls the main-stem reservoir projects and Interior controls all such additional irrigation works as it may "construct, operate, and maintain" at the site of those main-stem projects. One need not draw all the inferences that may be justified by this piece of legislative history in order to make it decisive here, for, at the very least, it directly refutes the notion that the other sections of the Act were intended to effect no changes in the division of authority between Army and Interior that had been suggested in the Pick Plan and the Sloan Plan.
"with primary interest in the dominant function of any feature proposed in the plan should construct and operate that feature, giving full recognition, in the design, construction, and operation, to the needs of other agencies with minor interests."
S. Doc., at 11. The Sloan Plan recognized that the "dominant function" of Lake Oahe and the other main-stem reservoir projects would be flood control and navigation, and therefore these projects would come under the jurisdiction of the Army and its Corps of Engineers. Id. at 4. [Footnote 7] Even if Congress had intended to write the jurisdictional structure suggested in the Pick Plan and the Sloan Plan directly into law, therefore, it would not have extended to Interior the unilateral authority that has been claimed in this case.
petitioners claim that the administrative structure established in the Act divides authority over Lake Oahe between Army and Interior in a novel fashion that is considerably different from what appears on the face of the Act. One possibility, which the petitioners disavow, is that Interior has the ultimate authority to use water from the reservoir for irrigation purposes and Army has the ultimate authority to use water from the reservoir for flood control and navigational purposes. This approach obviously would founder, and could give rise to endless squabbles, unless the water in the reservoir has been allocated between these uses, yet the District Court explicitly found "no evidence that separate allocations were made at Oahe," and "one wonders how the Interior Department is to control what cannot be identified." 586 F.Supp. at 1277. The position actually urged by the petitioners is even less straightforward than the foregoing: they argue that the Act requires Interior to consult with Army before withdrawing any water for industrial use from Lake Oahe, and does not allow Interior to withdraw water if Army objects, and yet the Act does not require Interior to obtain the approval of Army in order to withdraw water for industrial use. Tr. of Oral Arg. 14-15. The Army's authority over Lake Oahe is thus to be understood as most closely analogous to an executive veto over legislation: Interior must offer its proposal to the Army, and cannot proceed on its own if the Army objects, but can proceed even without Army approval as long as Army does not object. This would be, to say the least, a most unusual approach to administrative jurisdiction, one that gains no support from the text of the Act and one that we are unwilling to read into the Act as an implicit modification of its otherwise sensible and intelligible provisions.
"If the intent of Congress is clear, that is the end of the matter; for the court, as well as the agency, must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress."
Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U. S. 837, 467 U. S. 842-843 (1984). The Flood Control Act speaks directly to the dispute in this case, and congressional intent as expressed in the Act indicates clearly that the Interior Secretary may not enter into a contract to withdraw water from an Army reservoir for industrial use without the approval of the Department of the Army. That is "the end of the matter." Id. at 467 U. S. 842.
The decision of the Court of Appeals is therefore affirmed.
* Together with No. 86-941, Hodel, Secretary of the Interior, et al. v. Missouri et al., also on certiorari to the same court.
Although the contract states that the Interior Secretary entered into it "after consultation with the Secretary of the Army," App. 226, no party has disputed the fact that the Secretary of the Army did not expressly approve or sign the contract, which was signed on behalf of the United States by a regional director for the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation. Id. at 234.
This case also has involved several procedural issues, as well as ancillary issues about the validity of the contract. Those other issues are not before this Court. Neither is there any issue presented here as to the relative interests of the United States and South Dakota in Lake Oahe water.
At one time, the Army took the view that the only "surplus water" in the main-stem reservoirs was the water that neither was held in the reservoirs nor was run through the generators to produce hydroelectric power -- in other words, that no "surplus water" existed in the reservoirs themselves -- apparently because it assumed that all water contained in the reservoirs "is otherwise being used" for specified purposes. Army Memorandum, Marketing of Missouri River Water for Coal Gasification, AR900407 (Dec. 16, 1974), App. 133. More recently, however, the Army has abandoned this assumption and recognized that "this interpretation of what constitutes surplus water is unnecessarily narrow." Memorandum from Susan Crawford, General Counsel of Army, to Assistant Secretary of Army, Proposed Contracts for Municipal and Industrial Water Withdrawals from Main Stem Missouri Reservoirs 2 (March 13, 1986), App. to Brief for Respondent States 14a. Its current position is that § 6 of the Act gives the Army Secretary the same authority over "water he determines is not needed to fulfill a project purpose in Army reservoirs" that the Interior Department possesses over water contained in its own reservoir projects, namely, the authority to withdraw water for industrial use if to do so would not impair the efficiency of the project for its other stated purposes. Memorandum of Crawford 4, App. to Brief for Respondent 16a. See also Army Circular EC 1105-2-181, pp. 3-4 (Oct. 30, 1987). This view is consistent with the language of the Act, for if the term "surplus water" could never include any of the water stored in the reservoirs themselves, then the caveat Congress enacted in § 6 -- that this grant of authority shall not "adversely affect then existing lawful uses of such water" -- would have been irrelevant, because this grant of authority could never adversely affect any existing or projected uses of such water.
"in connection with the operations under the reclamation law is hereby authorized to enter into contract to supply water from any project irrigation system for other purposes than irrigation . . . : Provided . . . That no water shall be furnished for the uses aforesaid if the delivery of such water shall be detrimental to the water service for such irrigation project."
The Interior Secretary's determination that the sale of water does not impair the irrigation purpose of a project under his control has been accorded broad deference. See, e.g., Environmental Defense Fund v. Morton, 420 F.Supp. 1037 (Mont.1976), aff'd in part and rev'd in part, Environmental Defense Fund v. Andrus, 596 F.2d 848 (CA9 1979).
Nothing in today's decision, it should be emphasized, prevents the water in Lake Oahe from being put to beneficial use for industrial or other purposes. Of the 23 million acre-feet of water stored in this reservoir, by far the most part was projected for potential use in irrigation. As the District Court found, however, none of this water has been allotted for irrigation, no works have been constructed to make use of this water for irrigation, and none of this water has ever been used for irrigation or is likely to be used for that purpose in the foreseeable future. 586 F.Supp. at 1274, 1277. On these facts, there is considerable leeway for the Army Secretary to designate some of this water for industrial use without "adversely affect[ing]" the "existing lawful uses of such water." Act, § 6. Certainly if the Executive Branch as a whole wishes to put the water in this reservoir to beneficial use, it may do so simply by complying with the terms of the Act.
"Corps of Engineers should construct, operate, and maintain any feature in which flood control and navigation are dominant considerations, and the [Interior's] Bureau of Reclamation should construct, operate, and maintain any feature in which the functions of irrigation, restoration of surface and ground water levels, and power are dominant,"
though the two Departments would "advise and consult with" one another to the extent that these interests overlapped in features controlled by one or the other Department. H.R. Doc., at 7.
"should have the responsibility for determining main stem reservoir capacities and capacities of tributary reservoirs for flood control and navigation,"
"should have the responsibility for determining the reservoir capacities on the main stem and tributaries of the Missouri River for irrigation."
S. Doc. No. 247, 78th Cong., 2d Sess., 1 (1944). This passage seems to be nothing more than an explanation of how the final number of projects and the amount of their storage capacities were reached by the representatives of the two Departments.
"a part of a project which, for purposes of orderly engineering or reclamation development, is designated as a development unit by order of the Secretary."
Thus, a "reclamation development" is a designated part of a "reclamation project" under the Reclamation Project Act, for administrative purposes, and the two terms are used almost synonomously in that Act. See § 485f(b).
"to eliminate the shadow of applicability of the reclamation law to Corps of Engineers projects in any case in which the intent of Congress concerning such applicability is not clearly and explicitly set forth in statutory language,"
"authority to contract with water user entities for the irrigation water deliveries from Corps of Engineers projects, and to collect appropriate charges for those deliveries, continues in effect."
Ibid. It says nothing about when and how the Interior Secretary possesses and exercises the authority to enter into such contracts, which is prescribed in § 8 of the Act. Even more to the point, § 212 does not indicate in any way that the Interior Secretary has the authority to enter into a contract to withdraw water from an Army reservoir for industrial use, which is the precise authority asserted in this case.
This "Memorandum of Understanding" declared that the Army Secretary "shall retain all operational and managerial control over said reservoirs." Memorandum of Understanding Between Secretary of Interior and Secretary of Army, AR900072 (Feb. 24, 1975), App. 136. Over the four years it was in effect, no contracts were executed under it, and the agreement was allowed to expire in 1978. It also appears, by all accounts, that the contract at issue in this case is the only instance of the Interior Secretary exercising unilateral authority to withdraw water for industrial uses from a reservoir project controlled by the Army.
Both the District Court and the Court of Appeals mentioned various reasons why the Interior Secretary's interpretation of the Act might not be entitled to deference even if it were a reasonable interpretation. But since, in the end, the District Court, like the Court of Appeals, concluded that the agency's decision was not "reasonable," 586 F.Supp. at 1280, its additional comments, like those of the Court of Appeals, were pure dictum, and there is no reason to address them here.

References: v. 
 § 9
 § 9

§ 1
 § 701
 § 1
 § 4
 § 460
 § 5
 § 825
 § 6
 § 708
 § 7
 § 709
 § 8
 § 390
 § 9
 § 9
 § 9
 § 8
 v. 
 v. 
 § 6
 § 6
 v. 
 v. 
 § 6
 § 485
 § 8
 § 212