Army Corps’ Jurisdictional Determination That Wetlands Were Subject to CWA Regulation Was Not Reviewable Final Agency Action.

Plaintiff 1 owns property in a Louisiana parish. Plaintiff 2 has an option to purchase that property in the event that it can be used as a solid-waste landfill. In February 2012, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (COE) issued a jurisdictional determination (JD) stating that the property contains wetlands that are subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act. The plaintiffs sued, alleging that the JD is unlawful and should be set aside. The district court dismissed the suit for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, concluding that the JD is not "final agency action" and therefore is not reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). On appeal, the Fifth Circuit affirmed, finding that the JD did not oblige the plaintiffs to do or refrain from doing anything to the property. The court did find that the JD marked the consummation of the Corps' decision-making process as to the question of jurisdiction. However, because no actual legal consequences would flow from the JD, which merely informed the plaintiffs that the property was subject to regulation, it did not constitute reviewable final agency action under the APA. Belle Co., L.L.C. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, No. 13-30262, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 14544 (5th Cir. Jul. 30, 2014).