Facts

The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission is California state agency that is responsible for planning and maintaining the San Francisco Bay and shoreline. BCBD and San Francisco Baykeeper as Intervenor, filed a lawsuit against the United States Army Corps of Engineers, involving Administrative Procedure Act claims under the Clean Water Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, the Army Corps' dredging regulations, and the National Environmental Policy Act, in relation to the Corps' Jan. 2017 decision not to dredge all in-Bay channels every year as an alternative means of "compliance" with one of the state conditions to reduce hydraulic dredge use, and not incur any additional costs by using a mechanical dredge in these channels instead.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs argued that the Corps had changed its prior longstanding practice of annual dredging without providing a reasonable justification or explanation under the APA, and that simply avoiding dredging to reduce its costs and avoid full compliance with federally-mandated state conditions was not a reasonable justification.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant contended that its dredging schedule was necessary to comply with state water regulations under the Clean Water Act. The state sets standards, but defendant is free to decide how it allocates it resources in compliance

Result

The court denied plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and granted defendant's motion for summary judgment. The court held that there was no clear statutory command requiring defendant to annually dredge.