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Legislative Process Keyed to Mikva, 5th Ed.
Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill
Citation:
437 U.S. 153 (1978)Facts
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began constructing the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River in 1967, with congressional appropriations continuing annually. By 1973, when the Endangered Species Act was passed, the project was approximately half complete. In August 1973, a University of Tennessee ichthyologist discovered a previously unknown species of fish, the snail darter, in the portion of the river that would be impounded by the dam. In November 1975, the Secretary of the Interior officially listed the snail darter as an endangered species and subsequently designated its critical habitat as the area that would be flooded by the Tellico Dam. Despite this designation, TVA continued construction, arguing that the Act did not apply to projects substantially completed before the Act’s passage. By the time the lawsuit was filed in 1976, the project was 80% complete with over $78 million already spent. The District Court found that closing the dam would destroy the snail darter’s habitat but denied an injunction, reasoning that Congress could not have intended such a result for a nearly completed project. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the clear language of the Act required the project to be halted.
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