NEPA Process and Specific Requirements - Environmental Impact Analysis: Process and Methods - page 77

3.2.2.6 National Parks & Conservation Association v. U.S. Bureau
of Land Management , 586 F.3d 735 (9th Cir. 2009)

This case involved a private developer who wanted to exchange privately held
land for U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in order to convert a
former iron ore mine into a landfill. The bureau prepared an EIS because
the exchange was a federal action that could have significant environmental
impacts. The court ruled the EIS was invalid because among other reasons,
the BLM unreasonably narrowed the purpose and need for the project and
only included the private needs of the applicant. The BLM had initially identi-
fied several alternatives that would have been responsive to the need to meet
long-term landfill demand, but the BLM did not consider these options in any
detail. They were rejected because each of these alternatives failed to meet
the narrowly drawn project objectives addressing only the applicant's private
needs: “BLM cannot define its objectives in unreasonably narrow terms and
may not circumvent this proscription by adopting private interests to draft
a narrow purpose and need statement that excludes alternatives that fail to
meet specific private objectives.”

3.3 Purpose and Need Case Study: Washington

Aqueduct Water Treatment Residuals

The Water Treatment Residuals Management Process for the Washington
Aqueduct, Washington, D.C. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2005) was ulti-
mately a very successful project with stakeholder support, and a narrowly
defined purpose and need statement contributed to the success. In particu-
lar, the narrow purpose and need statement at the initial stages of the proj-
ect allowed a focus on practical and implementable alternatives addressing
the substantial issues of the stakeholders. A broader statement of purpose
and need could have obfuscated the real issues and delayed a project that
was badly needed for water quality protection, safe drinking water for the
nation's capital, and caused violations of the Clean Water Act. A summary
of the project background and issues related to the purpose and need are
presented below and additional project background detail is provided in
Section 10.4.

3.3.1 Background

The U.S. Army was given the responsibility of providing potable drink-
ing water for Washington, D.C. shortly after the founding of the nation's
capital. Originally groundwater wells within the district were sufficient in
quantity and quality to supply the initial inhabitants of Washington, D.C.