Opinion ID: 201450
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Public interest review

Text: 24 Appellants also argue that the Corps's duty to act in the public interest required it to consider the effect that granting Cape Wind's application would have on the federal government's interest in the OCS. The Corps is not shielded from this line of attack by its reliance on § 320.4(g)(6). Appellants properly point out that the Corps must consider, despite § 320.4(g)(6), the impact of a permit issuance on federal property rights in various ways, as part of its general public interest review. See 33 C.F.R. § 320.4(a)(1) (impact of project on considerations of property ownership must be a factor in the Corps's analysis); United States v. Alaska, 503 U.S. 569, 590-91, 112 S.Ct. 1606, 118 L.Ed.2d 222 (1992) (§ 320.4(g)(6) does not prohibit Corps from considering effect of proposed port construction on federal-state boundary in submerged waters, under 33 C.F.R. § 320.4(f)). Here, as we explain below, the Corps reasonably found that the data tower's impact on federal property rights would be negligible, Environmental Assessment at 4, and thus appellants' public interest argument fails.