Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2024
Abstract
This Article argues that the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ review of Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12) is insufficient to remedy the deeper environmental justice defects embedded within the Nationwide Permit Program as a whole. NWP 12, which facilitates expedited authorization of oil and natural gas pipeline crossings under § 404 of the Clean Water Act, has enabled the construction of fossil fuel infrastructure with minimal site-specific environmental review and no meaningful opportunity for public comment. Drawing on theories of procedural environmental justice, the Article contends that the structure of the Nationwide Permit Program systematically disadvantages communities of color and other socially vulnerable populations by diffusing or eliminating public participation, obscuring cumulative impacts, and limiting judicial review. Using examples such as the Keystone XL and Byhalia pipeline proposals, the Article demonstrates how NWP 12 perpetuates historical inequities by concentrating environmental burdens in already overburdened communities. It further argues that similar concerns extend to other general permits, including Nationwide Permit 13. Ultimately, the Article concludes that NWP 12 should be revoked and that broader structural reforms are necessary to re-center the Corps’s permitting framework around meaningful community participation and environmental justice.
Recommended Citation
Travis O. Brandon, Too Little Too Late: Why the Environmental Justice Problems Caused by the Army Corps's Nationwide Permit Program Run Much Deeper than Permit 12, 48 Vt. L. Rev. 40 (Fall 2023).
