May a state enforce its water quality standards against a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment located on an interstate river? North Dakota v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (In re Operation of the Missouri River System Litigation), 320 F. Supp. 2d 873 (D. Minn. 2004) (memorandum and order). The State of North Dakota sued the United States Army Corps of Engineers for violating North Dakota water quality standards for dissolved oxygen and temperature through maintenance of the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River. United States District Court Judge Paul Magnuson found that the waiver of sovereign immunity in the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §1323(a)) does not extend so far as to permit a state to maintain an enforcement action “that requires absolute compliance by the Corps, in the controlled operation of a major river system that runs through many states.” Judge Magnuson noted the language of 33 U.S.C. §1371 stating that the CWA shall not be construed to “affect[ ] or impair[ ] the authority of the Secretary of the Army to maintain navigation.” He also deemed principles of federal preemption to apply when otherwise each state along the river could seek to enforce its own water quality standards. Related litigation in which the adequacy of the Corps’ Missouri River management manual was upheld is found at 363 F. Supp. 2d 1145 (D. Minn. 2004).
|
||
 |
||