Court Opinion

ID: 9461833
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:25:46.551441+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:17.175104
License: Public Domain

GRANT, Senior District Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent from that portion of the Court’s opinion which holds that there was, in this case, an unlawful delegation of authority with respect to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) required by Title 42, U.S.C. § 4882(2XC).
We are here concerned with the construction of a 15-mile segment in the interstate highway system in the State of Illinois — a “missing link” that would connect the cities of Lincoln and Peoria in that system.
As the Court correctly points out, on August 16, 1972, a draft EIS was submitted to the Federal Highway Administration by the Illinois Department of Transportation. The summary sheet thereof reads as follows:
FINAL DESIGN ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT
SUMMARY SHEET
(1) TYPE OF ACTION
Administrative Action
( ) Draft (x) Final
(x) Environmental Statement
( ) Combination Environmental/Section 4(f) Statement
(2) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE IMPROVEMENT
The proposed Freeway F.A.P. 406 is a four-lane, fully access controlled facility extending north from Lincoln to Morton. The Freeway begins at an interchange with 1-55 northwest of Lincoln and ends at an interchange with 1-74 at Morton. The segment considered in this report extends from northwest of Lincoln to approximately two miles north of the Delavan Junction, in Logan and Tazewell Counties in Central Illinois.
(3) SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Approximately 800 acres of various land use types, 95% farmland and 5% pasture will be needed for this improvement. The Freeway will change the noise, air and water pollution elements in the area along with variations of natural grades due to construction. The small communities within the influence of the Freeway will experience possible major changes in economic structure due to developments that may occur near interchange locations.
The adverse environmental effects that cannot be avoided are the loss of highly productive agricultural land, the relocation of several farm residences, and revision of local land ae*782cess patterns in the rural areas. These effects will be corrected by reestablishing the natural eco-systems as close as possible and practical.
(4) ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
Alternatives to the proposed project are: a.) upgrading existing Illinois Route 121 to a full-access controlled high speed facility, b.) constructing a full-access controlled Freeway on a new alinement which would serve the same traffic as existing Illinois Route 121 and c.) not to construct the highway improvement.
Obedient to the commands of Section 4332(2)(C), the Federal Highway Administration thereupon submitted the proposed project to a long list of federal and state agencies who, conceivably, could have had an interest, or any input, into the federal decision-making practice. Many of those queried made written replies.
A list of the agencies from which comments were requested, together with an indication of those from whom responses were received, is quoted here from the EIS:
(5) LIST OF AGENCIES FROM WHICH COMMENTS WERE REQUESTED

FEDERAL AGENCIES

Department Of Agriculture *
Department Of Commerce
Economic Development Administration
Federal Power Commission Corps Of Engineers *
Department Of Housing And Urban Development *
Director of Impact Statements Offices, U. S. Department Of Interior (7) *
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (5) *
Department Of Health, Education And Welfare
Office Of The Secretary (TEU), U. S. Department Of Transportation *
U. S. Council On Environmental Quality

STATE AGENCIES THROUGH THE STATE CLEARINGHOUSE:

* Department Of Agriculture
* Department Of Public Health
* Department Of Conservation (x)
* Department Of Business And Economic Development
* Department Of Mines And Minerals (x)
* Division Of Waterways (x)
* Environmental Protection Agency (x)
Department of Corrections (x)
Governor’s Office Of Manpower Development
Department Of Aeronautics (x)
Governor’s Office Of Human Resources (x)
Board Of Vocational Rehabilitation (x)
Office Of Comprehensive Health Planning (x)
Children & Family Services (x)
Illinois Natural History Survey (x)
Illinois Archaeological Survey
Department Of Local Governmental Affairs (x)
Illinois State Geological Survey (x)
(x) Written replies were received from these agencies.

OTHER AGENCIES

Lincoln Chamber Of Commerce
Kickapoo Watershed Committee
Logan County Plan Commission
City Of Lincoln Plan Commission
Illinois Central Railroad
Gulf Mobile & Ohio Railroad
Logan County Highway Department
Tazewell County Highway Department
Peoria Tri-County Regional Planning Commission
Logan County Soil Conservation Service
Tazewell County Soil Conservation Service
Logan County Farm Bureau
Tazewell County Farm Bureau
Logan County Board Of Commissioners
Tazewell County Board Of Commissioners
Emden Village Clerk
Hartsburg Village Clerk
Delavan City Clerk
No written replies were received from these agencies.
*783(6) THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT WAS MADE AVAILABLE TO THE COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ON SEPTEMBER 28, 1972
The majority here would “agree with the district judge that there is no evidence of bad faith and that the primary purpose of encouraging public input in the planning stages of this project was served.” They also hold that the corridor hearing, which resulted in the selection of alternate A for this segment of highway, was not “so clearly arbitrary as to justify a reviewing court in substituting its judgment for that of the Federal Highway Administration which approved this corridor.” But they then complain that the EIS, consisting of “forty-six pages of textual material and numerous maps, charts and pictures,” was on “close examination . . . rather superficial in several key areas.” Having concluded that the EIS was inadequate, in their view, they then proceed to decide that the Illinois Department of Transportation had too much input into the initial stages of the process, and that this constituted an improper delegation of authority and that, therefore, the inadequate EIS was void ab initio.
It is important that we keep in mind the fact that we are not here dealing with broad policy questions and the pros and cons of a broad network of Interstate Highways, or even at what point an Interstate Highway should bisect the State of Illinois. We are here wrestling with a question involving a 15-mile segment of a previously planned network that needs to be built to complete the freeway system connecting the cities of Peoria and Lincoln. Three alternate corridors had been considered, involving, as they did, the individual interests of competing land owners.
After the Federal Highway Administration had submitted the proposed project to all the agencies listed above, and had given them all an opportunity to comment, the FWA thereafter adopted as its own a 155-page Environmental Impact Statement, as contemplated by Section 4332(2)(C) and work was to proceed. It was then that the aggrieved land owner (plaintiff herein), who had been given every opportunity to be heard, and who was heard, filed this suit to stop the program.
My brethren write that “nothing in the Act intimates that this central function is to be delegated.” To me, it is equally clear that nothing in the Act states that “the responsible official” must himself perform all the multitude of duties that go into the decisionmaking process envisioned by the Environmental Protection Act.
I quote with approval from the able opinion of the district court:
Plaintiffs assert that the statement filed for FAP 406 fails to explore in sufficient detail alternatives to the proposed route and that it does not explore certain relevant environmental questions in adequate depth. A number of inquiries are suggested by the plaintiffs which they believe should have been made, including extensive chemical pollution tests, the desirability of alternative modes of transportation, and the effect of the removal of farmland from production on the world hunger problem. While unending study of these matters would, no doubt, be beneficial, the failure of the defendants to conduct such studies and to arrive at conclusions thereon here does not render the impact statement inadequate. These questions have a general significance that extends' far beyond the limited project envisioned here. It is simply not feasible to hold up a project such as this pending such studies. It would be grossly impractical to do so. An exhaustive examination of every conceivable minor environmental effect of a given project, even though patently and cumulatively detrimental, is simply not required by NEPA.
Is there not room for a rule of reason in the application of these statutes? The extent of detail required by NEPA in a *784highway case such as the one at hand, is well expressed in Iowa Citizens for Environmental Quality, Inc. v. Volpe, 487 F.2d 849 (8th Cir. 1973) as follows:
“However, strict though the procedural requirements of Section 102(2) may be, they must be interpreted on a basis of reasonableness. Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. v. Corps of Engineers, 470 F.2d 289, 297 (8th Cir. 1972). ‘ . . . [I]f this requirement is not rubber, neither is it iron. The statute must be construed in the light of reason if it is not to demand what is, fairly speaking, not meaningfully possible, given the obvious, that the resources of energy and research — and time — available to meet the Nation’s needs are not infinite.’ Natural Resources Council, Inc. v. Morton, 148 U.S.App.D.C. 5, 458 F.2d 827, 837 (1972). See Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. v. Corps of Engineers, 348 F.Supp. 916, 933 (N.D.Miss.1972); Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. v. Corps of Engineers, 342 F.Supp. 1211, 1217 (E.D.Ark.1972).
“As Judge Stuart noted, the environmental statement ‘to some extent must be examined in light of the particular facts and circumstances surrounding the project ... in order to determine its sufficiency. The extent of detail required must necessarily be related to the complexity of the environmental problems created by the project.’ The discussion of environmental effects need not be ‘exhaustive’ but rather need only provide sufficient information for a ‘reasoned choice of alternatives.’ Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Morton, 148 U.S.App.D.C. 5, 458 F.2d 827, 836 (1972). See Sierra Club v. Froehlke, 345 F.Supp. 440, 444 (W.D.Wis.1972), where the court stated that Section 102(2) does not require that ‘each problem be documented from every angle to explore its every potential for good or ill.’ ”
By Footnote 13 the majority opinion refers in the case before us to Judge Lay’s dissent in Iowa Citizens for Environmental Quality, Inc. v. Volpe, supra. In that dissent, we find the same argument that is well stated in this Court’s opinion. But the Eighth Circuit held otherwise, and I prefer to cast my lot with the able opinion by Senior Judge Van Oosterhout when he wrote in that case, Iowa Citizens (at p. 854):
Section 102(2)(C) of NEPA requires a detailed statement of the environmental impact of a federal project by the responsible federal official. It does not specifically state how such official shall obtain the information upon which his statement is based. Since the enactment of NEPA, FHWA with the acquiescence of the Council on Environmental Quality, and the knowledge of Congress,3 has consistently interpreted the provisions of NEPA as permitting the delegation of the physical act of gathering the information necessary for the preparation of Section 102(2)(C) EIS to the state highway departments recommending the proposed federal-aid highways.
In my view, the Court today — by the adoption of the majority opinion — has overstepped its role in reviewing the acts of an administrative agency and has substituted its judgment for that of the Federal Highway Administration. In doing so, it joins the ranks of those who have engaged in an economic overkill that, like the adverse effect on the automobile industry, and the long delays in construction of the Alaska pipeline, will plague us for years to come.

 Written replies were received from these agencies.
* Agencies are coordinated under the National. Resources Development Board of the State of Illinois.

 On June 16, 1971, Russell Train, Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, testified before the House Subcommittee on Investigation and Oversight and fully apprised this Subcommittee of FHWA’s procedure of relying on state agencies for much of the information contained in environmental impact statements. Hearings on Red Tape Before the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the House Committee on Public Works, 92d Cong., 1st sess., pp. 261-263. See also Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Roads of the Senate Committee on Public Works, 91st Cong., 1st sess., p. 7 (August 25, 1970).