Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill

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1978 United States Supreme Court case

Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hiram Hill et al., or TVA v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153 (1978), was a United States Supreme Court case and the Court's first interpretation of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. After the discovery of the snail darter fish in the Little Tennessee River in August 1973, a lawsuit was filed alleging that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)'s Tellico Dam construction was in violation of the Endangered Species Act. Plaintiffs argued dam construction would destroy critical habitat and endanger the population of snail darters. It was decided by a 6-3 vote, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hill, et al. and granted an injunction stating that there would be conflict between Tellico Dam operation and the explicit provisions of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.

The majority opinion, delivered by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger , affirmed the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in granting an injunction. This decision by the Supreme Court to not allow exemptions confirmed that Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act was a strong substantive provision and helped shape federal environmental law. The case is commonly cited as an example of the strict construction-plain meaning canon of construction, and the equitable principle that courts cannot balance equities to override statutory mandates unless on constitutional grounds.

Background

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History of Endangered Species Act

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Passed by Congress a large majority in 531-4 vote and signed by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973 with the purpose of protecting and recovering "imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend," the Endangered Species Act provides the strongest federal protection against species loss. The Endangered Species Act requires federal agencies to evaluate if actions taken or permitted by the federal government may harm listed species or the continued existence of listed species or their critical habitat. Once a species is listed as "endangered" or "threatened," the ESA prohibits the "taking" of listed animals and plants which makes it unlawful "to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect or attempt to engage in any such conduct." Unknowingly at the time, Congress had passed a controversial statute that created a forum which brought into question the merits of government projects and presented a political question of balancing the benefits of species preservation and the economic cost of preservation.

Parties involved

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Tennessee Valley Authority

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Location of Tellico Dam

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned utility corporation created in 1933 during the Great Depression . At the time of its creation, its mission was to help strengthen economic development of the Tennessee River basin, a region hit with high unemployment where the per capita income was less than half the national average. The publicly owned corporation provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system and assists utilities and state and local governments with economic development. The Tellico Dam project would be the last of 68 dams constructed in the Tennessee River Valley. TVA argued that the project would provide recreational benefits and allow for real estate development along the reservoir.

Hiram Hill, et al.

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Hiram (Hank) Hill was a second year law student at the University of Tennessee . Hiram Hill was spending time with Dr. David Etnier, a biologist and professor, who had discovered the snail darter while scuba diving in the Little Tennessee River. Hill brought the snail darter to the attention of Zygmunt J.B. Plater , a law professor, and asked if the completion of the Tellico Dam and the potential effect on the fish under the Endangered Species Act would be a suitable topic for an environmental law paper. The plaintiffs in the case were Hill, Plater, and Donald Cohen .

Snail darter, Percina tanasi

Case

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History of the case

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In previous suits filed by Environmental Defense Fund under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), TVA had been ordered by Judge Robert L. Taylor of the Eastern District of Tennessee to cease dam construction for 16 months until an environmental impact statement had been written.

Congress continued to fund the project under the annual Public Works Appropriations Act and Judge Taylor dissolved the injunction after a year and dismissed the NEPA suit.

After the discovery of the snail darter, Hiram Hill, Zygmunt Plater, and local attorney Joseph Congleton submitted a petition to the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the snail darter as endangered. In the Federal Register , the FWS ruled that the species was indeed endangered and designated mile 0.5 to 17 of the Little Tennessee River as critical habitat for snail darters. TVA rejected the Fish and Wildlife Service's interpretation of ESA and continued to receive funding for the Tellico Dam.

On February 28, 1976 Hill et al., filed a citizen's suit seeking an injunction and claimed that TVA was in violation of the Endangered Species Act. Judge Taylor presided over the case and on May 25, 1976 he found that the dam would eliminate the fish and its habitat, but he refused to consider balancing the alternate development of the river, and refused to enjoin completion of the Tellico Dam.

On January 31, 1977 the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Judge Taylor's decision and issued an injunction forbidding the completion of the dam.

During this time TVA petitioned the FWS to remove the snail darter from the endangered species list and also petitioned for a writ of certiorari from the United States Supreme Court.

Issues

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It was not disputed by either party that the completion of the dam would eradicate the known population of snail darters. The two issues of the case were as follows:

1. Whether completion of the Tellico Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority would violate the Endangered Species Act. And, if so
2. Whether an injunction is required to halt construction of the dam.

Arguments

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Arguments against an injunction

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On April 18, 1978 TVA argued that an exception to the Endangered Species Act should be granted for balancing of equities. They argued that Congress had already spent $100 million on the project, and that it would not make economic sense to stop the project. TVA argued for an exception to be made in this case since the dam was started prior to the Endangered Species Act being passed and claimed it should be grandfathered in. Another argument made was that since the appropriations committees continued to appropriate funding for the project after knowing it would be detrimental to the snail darter's critical habitat, Congress had implicitly repealed the Endangered Species Act.

Arguments for an injunction

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