National Association of Home Builders, et al. v. Defenders of Wildlife et al. (551 U.S. 644)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 25, 2007 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 551 U.S. 644 · 127 S. Ct. 2518
- Decided
- June 25, 2007
- Term
- October Term 2006
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Alito
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the Court. These cases concern the interplay between two federal environmental statutes. Section 402(b) of the Clean Water Act requires that the Environmental Protection Agency transfer certain permitting powers to state authorities upon an application and a showing that nine specified criteria have been met. Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides that a federal agency must consult with agencies designated by the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior in order to “insure that any action authorized, funded, or carried out by such agency ... is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species.” The question presented is whether §7(a)(2) effectively operates as a tenth criterion on which the transfer of permitting power under the first statute must be conditioned. We conclude that it does not. The transfer of permitting authority to state authorities — who will exercise that authority under continuing federal oversight to ensure compliance with relevant mandates of the Endangered Species Act and other federal environmental protection statutes — was proper. We therefore reverse the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. I A 1 The Clean Water Act (CWA), 86 Stat. 816, as amended, 33 U. S. C. § 1251 et seq., established a National Pollution…
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