no major federal action where state sought Army Corps of Engineers' opinion on effect of highway project on flood control and Corps responded it had no objection, but where there was no legal requirement that state seek Corps approval
How later courts described this case
- no major federal action where state sought Army Corps of Engineers' opinion on effect of highway project on flood control and Corps responded it had no objection, but where there was no legal requirement that state seek Corps approval
- NEPA no longer applied after Congress withdrew funding from what was previously a federally funded project, cert. denied, 420 U.S. 926, 95 S.Ct. 1123, 43 L.Ed.2d 396 (1975)
- Army Corps of Engineers had no jurisdiction to approve or disapprove state-financed expressway project; therefore, their action did not trigger NEPA provisions
- federal officials had no jurisdiction over highway project, and all federal funds for road had been returned; held, no federal action
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
TUTTLE, Circuit Judge
(concurring in part and dissenting in part):
While I concur fully with the opinion with respect to the claim on the merits, I respectfully dissent with respect to the disposition of the issue of attorneys’ fees. Since the trial court did not enter any order with respect to the claim for attorneys’ fees, I would remand that issue to the trial court to enable it to determine first the extent to which any award might be a charge against state revenues as distinguished from being merely a charge against the individual named defendants.