Tie score. After one Supreme Court ruling and one Presidential
Executive Order the score stands Landfills - 1, Migratory Birds
- 1. Jan. 9, 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the
U.S. Corps of Engineers could not use the Migratory Bird Rule of
the National Clean Water Act to prevent the group of 23 Chicago-
area municipalities from constructing a landfill atop 14 acres
of seasonal ponds used by migratory birds. Jan. 11, 2001,
President Clinton issued an Executive Order titled
"Responsibilities of Federal Agencies to Protect Migratory
Birds." other things, the order directs, "Each Federal agency
taking actions that have, or are likely to have, a measurable
negative effect on migratory bird populations is directed to
develop and implement, within 2 years, a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)
that shall promote the conservation of migratory bird
populations. course, the Corps of Engineers probably felt that
denying that landfill permit to fill in seasonal ponds