Minnesota v. Alexander

• Decision Date: 25 April 1977
• Docket Number: No. 76-1030,76-1030
• Citation: 430 U.S. 977,97 S.Ct. 1672,52 L.Ed.2d 373
• Parties: MINNESOTA, etc. v. Clifford L. ALEXANDER, Secretary of the Army, et al
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

430 U.S. 977

97 S.Ct. 1672

52 L.Ed.2d 373

MINNESOTA, etc.

v Clifford L. ALEXANDER, Secretary of the Army, et al

No. 76-1030

Supreme Court of the United States

April 25, 1977

The appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction. Treating the papers whereon the appeal was taken as a petition for a writ of certiorari, certiorari is denied.

Mr. Justice STEVENS, with whom Mr. Justice MARSHALL and Mr. Justice REHNQUIST join, dissenting.

In this case, the Court of Appeals held that dredging by the Army Corps of Engineers is exempt from state water-pollution regulations. 543 F.2d 1198 (C.A.8 1976). The Court today refuses to review this ruling despite the fact that the case is here on appeal, and may well be within our mandatory jurisdiction.¹ The case deserves plenary review because of its practical importance and because of the likelihood that error has been committed.

The general rule, of course, is that federal agencies are immune from state regulation, but this immunity may be waived by Congress. See EPA v. California ex rel. State Water Resources Control Board, 426 U.S. 200, 96 S.Ct. 2022, 48 L.Ed.2d 578. It appears that Congress has made such a waiver in § 313 of the 1972 Amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1323. Section 313 provides, in no uncertain terms, that:

"Each department, agency or instrumentality of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government . . . shall comply with Federal, State, interstate, and local requirements . . . ."

Congress was cautious indeed in allowing exceptions, as shown by the remainder of § 313. Federal agencies may be exempted only by the President himself, and only if he finds the exemption to be in the "paramount interest of the United States." Even then, the exemption lasts only one year unless renewed by the President, and he must report each exemption to Congress "together with his reason for granting such exemption."

Despite the evident intent of Congress to allow even temporary exemptions only under extraordinary circumstances, the Court of Appeals found an implied permanent exemption in § 404 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1344.² 543 F.2d, at 1202. Section 404 simply provides that dredging permits are issued by the Army Corps of Engineers rather than the EPA. It says nothing about any exemption from state water pollution regulation. Indeed, § 404 does not distinguish between dredging by the Corps and dredging by private industry; private dredgers are concededly subject to state pollution require- ments (Motion to Dismiss or Affirm, at 9, and n. 10); and Congress expected that "the disposal activities of private dredgers and the Corps of Engineers will be treated similarly." S.Conf.Rep.No.92-1236, p. 142 (1972); see also H.R.Rep.No.92-911, p. 130 (1972) U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1972, p. 3668.

In State Water Board, the Court emphasized that "(f)ederal installations are subject to state regulation only when and to the extent that Congressional authorization is clear and unambiguous." 426 U.S., at 211, 96 S.Ct. 2022. Perhaps further investigation will disclose that the congressional authorization here is not so "clear and unambiguous" as it now appears to be. Even giving all benefit of the doubt to the Court of Appeals, however, the correctness of its holding is far from apparent.

This case has more than theoretical importance. According to the complaint, the Corps dredges over two million cubic yards of sediment from the Mississippi River alone, and deposits about half that amount in Minnesota. App. A-4. These activities have allegedly caused "severe degradation of the quality of the waters of (that) state." App. A-12. Other States too are concerned amicus briefs urging reversal have been filed on behalf of California, Hawaii, Idaho, Washington, Wisconsin, and Missouri.

I would order the case set for oral argument, postponing until then the issue whether the case should be taken on appeal or by writ of certiorari.

1 Our mandatory jurisdiction includes cases in which a Court of Appeals holds a state statute "invalid as repugnant to the Constitution, treaties or laws of the United States. . . ." 28 U.S.C. § 1254(2). The Secretary of the Army concedes that "(b)y holding that the federal statute did not waive the traditional immunity of the Corps of Engineers from state regulation, the court...