Opinion ID: 2996898
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: necessity of dredging to maintenance

Text: The plaintiffs argue that, in order for a dredging activity to fall within the maintenance exception, the dredging also must be reasonably necessary to the proposed maintenance. The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, as well, construe the maintenance exemption to carry a requirement of reasonable necessity. They state that the DNR’s activities are exempt as maintenance if the “draw-down and discharge of sediment was necessary to perform those maintenance functions.” Amicus Br. at 7. For the following reasons, we No. 02-1863 29 believe that the amici’s position—that the maintenance exemption carries with it a requirement that discharge of dredged material be reasonably necessary to the maintenance—is persuasive. We note initially that a requirement of reasonable necessity or proportionality comports with the legislative history of the statute. Throughout the legislative history, Congress repeatedly stressed that the § 1344(f)(1) exemptions were intended to cover only a very narrow class of exemptions for activities “that cause little or no adverse effects either 19 individually or cumulatively.” 3 Legislative History 420. 19 See also 3 Legislative History 283 (“These specified activities should have no serious adverse impact on water quality if performed in a manner which will not impair the flow and circulation patterns and the chemical and biological characteristics of the affected waterbody and which will not reduce the reach of the affected waterbody.” (H.R. Rep. No. 95-830, at 99 (1977)); id. at 421 (“A case-by-case permit review would not be required for narrowly defined activities that cause little or no adverse effects either individually or cumulatively, including those activities narrowly defined in 404(f)(1)(A-F).”); id. at 474 (“Federal permits will not be required for those narrowly defined activities that cause little or no adverse effects either individually or cumulatively” even though “it is understood that some of these activities may necessarily result in incidental filling and minor harm to aquatic resources . . . .” (emphasis added)); id. at 529 (noting that the § 1344(f)(1) exemptions “exclude[] from permit requirements, discharges of dredged or fill material in conjunction with the following activities that will cause little or no adverse effects either individually or cumulatively”); 4 Legislative History 870 (recognizing that the § 1344(f)(1) exemptions were intended “to free from the threat of regulation those kinds of manmade activities which are sufficiently de minimus as to merit general attention at State and local level and little or no attention at the national (continued...) 30 No. 02-1863 Certainly there would be no guarantee against more than de minimus adverse effects on the environment if the discharge of dredged material was not required to be reasonably necessary or otherwise proportional to the maintenance performed. Additionally, several courts have spoken of § 1344(f)(1) exemptions as containing a reasonableness requirement. In Sargent County II, 876 F. Supp. at 1098, the district court determined that the defendants’ activities of removing silt from a ditch fell within the § 1344(f)(1) exemption for “maintenance of drainage ditches,” particularly where “the individuals involved in the clean-out of Drain 11 were competent and acted responsibly in carrying out their assigned tasks.” Id. (emphasis added). Additionally, in United States v. Zanger, 767 F. Supp. 1030, 1035 (N.D. Cal. 1991), the court found that defendants who graded, filled and changed the bottom elevation of a stream could not be exempt under the maintenance exemption because the exemption “is limited to ‘maintenance’ of certain ‘structures,’ ” and there were no structures involved. The court further explained that “even if there had been [structures], defendants’ filling goes far beyond any reasonable definition of maintenance or 20 repair.” Id. (emphasis added). (...continued) level” (emphasis added)); id. at 912 (stating that the § 1344(f)(1) exemptions “should have only a minor impact on water quality if performed in a manner that will not impair the flow and circulation patterns and the chemical and biological characteristics of the affected waterbody, and that will not reduce the reach of the affected waterbody”). 20 The regulations also imply a requirement of reasonableness for the maintenance provision at least in the circumstance of (continued...) No. 02-1863 31 Accordingly, we agree with the plaintiffs and amici that, in light of the legislative history, existing case law and the rule that the § 1344(f)(1) exemptions must be narrowly construed, see Huebner, 752 F.2d at 1240-41, the maintenance exemption should be construed so that only dredging that is reasonably necessary to the proposed maintenance is exempt from the permit requirement. Applying this standard to the case at hand, we believe that the plaintiffs have brought forth sufficient evidence to permit the trier of fact to conclude that the dredging of the pond was not reasonably necessary to either the maintenance of the pump or the alleged inspection of the gates. DNR engineers explained that the repairs could have been performed without a rapid draw-down, and in fact, both of the alleged repairs were later performed without any drawdown of the pond. Moreover, even if the repairs warranted a rapid draw-down and dredging of the pond, the pond was drained sufficiently to expose the plumbing by 11:00 a.m., and the bottom gate was fully open for inspection by the same time. However, the defendants kept the gates open, allowed the pond to continue “dredging” until 3:00 p.m. and never commenced the necessary repairs. Looking at the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, we cannot say that the dredging of the pond—particularly from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.—was, as a matter of law, reasonably necessary to the proposed maintenance. (...continued) emergency reconstruction of recently damaged parts. The regulations only exempt emergency reconstruction that “occur[s] within a reasonable period of time after damage occurs.” 33