Opinion ID: 772447
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Restricting Choice of Reasonable Alternatives

Text: 34 Employing our first test, we evaluate whether the state's actions restricted or limited the federal decision-makers' choice of reasonable alternatives when granting federal approvals for the highway construction. As noted previously, the FHWA issued two FONSIs for the interchange EAs in 1989 and 1990. The first segment of the highway is not at issue in this case. Construction on the second segment of the highway, from I-24 to I-65 South, did not begin until 1995. Work on the third section, from I-65 South to I-40 W, began in late 1997 and is still substantially incomplete. Actual construction and paving of the third section has not, according to the record before us, even begun. In contrast to the situation in Gilchrist, then, we conclude that the FHWA was afforded ample time and opportunity to respond to the state's proposal before action by the state which would harm the environment or limit the agency's choice of reasonable alternatives, the concerns enunciated by the CEQ regulations. 35 The other federal agency approvals required for construction of the highway involve the second and third sections of Route 840 South. In response to the state's requests, the Army Corps of Engineers issued several Nation-Wide Permits (NWPs) and §404 permits allowing the state to cross several streams and fill almost four acres of wetlands. 8 J.A. at 144-73. The NWP permits for stream crossings were approved by the Army Corps in 1996 and the other §404 permits and FONSIs were issued in 1997 and 1999, respectively. J.A. at 144-47, 149, 156-58. The Secretary of the Army also duly responded to two state EAs with FONSIs. 9 The Association does not allege that the Secretary of the Army was pressured to render its decision or that its choice of action was limited by the state's construction. 36 Next, after submitting five preliminary draft EAs to the National Park Service (NPS), the state submitted a final draft EA in October 1996 to the Secretary of the Interior seeking approval of its EA and a right-of-way to cross the federally-protected Natchez Trace Parkway. J.A. at 88. The Secretary of the Interior has not, according to the record, responded to the state's draft EA with either an EIS or a FONSI. While we are concerned that the state began building Route 840 South prior to receiving final approval from the Secretary of the Interior, we note that the Association concedes that there has been extensive contact, beginning as early as 1990, J.A. at 74, between the state and the NPS, a division of the Department of the Interior, regarding where the highway should cross the Parkway. 10 We also observe that the Association does not seek to enjoin construction of the highway in order to allow the Secretary of the Interior time to respond to the state's EA. Therefore, under our first test, we conclude that the state's work on Route 840 South did not restrict the federal decision-makers' choice of reasonable alternatives. 37