Opinion ID: 175346
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Congress's First Appropriations Bill

Text: Congress in the meantime continued to legislate on Everglades restoration. On September 30, 2008, Congress passed a continuing appropriations act, Pub.L. No. 110-329, 122 Stat. 3574. Section 153 of the act spoke to the immediate building of the bridge: SEC. 153. Amounts provided by section 101 for implementation of the Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park shall be made available to the Army Corps of Engineers, which shall immediately carry out Alternative 3.2.2.a to U.S. Highway 41 (the Tamiami Trail) as substantially described in the Limited Reevaluation Report with Integrated Environmental Assessment and addendum, approved August 2008.... 122 Stat. at 3581 (emphasis added). On October 24, 2008, the Tribe filed suit against the Corps and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, alleging violations of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq. (ESA). We refer to this case as the ESA case. The lawsuit alleged that a biological opinion issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to fully address the bridge's threat to the continued survival of two endangered bird species, the snail kite and the wood stork. There are two wood stork colonies close to the planned bridge route. Like the NEPA suit, the ESA suit sought a court order blocking construction of the bridge until the federal government complied with the law. Meanwhile, the Corps moved to dismiss the NEPA suit, citing § 153 of Congress's continuing appropriations act. On October 31, 2008, the NEPA court denied the Corps's motion to dismiss the Tribe's suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, holding that § 153 was not specific enough to exempt the Corps from NEPA. Section 153 neither mentioned NEPA by name, nor included the key phrase notwithstanding any other provision of law, which the court described as the language usually associated with an exemption or limited repeal. D.E. 59 at 5. Shortly thereafter, on November 13, 2008, the NEPA court granted in part the Tribe's motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the Corps from building the bridge until it complied with environmental procedures.