Town of Southold v. Wheeler

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s conclusion that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not violate the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) when the agency designated a new waste disposal site for dredging byproducts in Long Island Sound. The Second Circuit first concluded that the district court properly applied the Administrative Procedure Act’s deferential arbitrary-and-capricious standard for judicial review of the CZMA claim. The Second Circuit further found that EPA adequately justified its determination under the CZMA that designation of the disposal site was consistent with the Long Island Sound Coastal Management Program authored by New York State and the Town of Southold Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. Among the objections that the Second Circuit rejected was New York’s contention that a new dredging site was not needed. New York’s argument included that EPA’s estimate of how much dredged material could require disposal should not have included 15.5 million cubic yards of dredged sand that might be used for beach renourishment projects. New York had alleged in its complaint that sea level rise and increasingly intense storm events would increase demand for such projects. The Second Circuit also ruled that the Town of Southold could not assert its National Environmental Policy Act claim on appeal after it abandoned the claim in its summary judgment briefing.