The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has upheld a Clean Water Act permit for the planned Cainhoy Plantation development in Charleston, rejecting an environmental challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers’ assessment of less damaging alternatives.
The Corps issued the Section 404 permit for residential and commercial construction on portions of a 9,076-acre property. Environmental groups argued that the agency’s alternatives analysis did not satisfy the Clean Water Act and governing regulations, which generally require selection of the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative.
In a published opinion decided on October 23, a unanimous panel affirmed the district court. Judge Stephanie Thacker wrote that the Corps considered the project’s purpose, reviewed multiple configurations and worked with the developer to reduce anticipated wetlands impacts from about 1,820 acres to 181.5 acres. The panel concluded that the agency had an adequate administrative record for finding that no practicable alternative would meet the project’s legitimate objectives with fewer aquatic impacts.
The judgment does not exempt the development from environmental conditions or authorise work outside the permit. It sustains the Corps’ decision against the claims presented in this appeal. The permit continues to require mitigation and conservation measures, while other federal, state and local approvals remain governed by their own terms.
The ruling is final at the panel level. The challengers may seek rehearing or petition the Supreme Court, but neither step would automatically suspend the judgment or the permit.
Read the official Fourth Circuit opinion.
