Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe
United States Supreme Court
401 U.S. 402 (1971)
The Secretary of Transportation (defendant) approved federal funding for a highway through a Memphis public park, even though governing statutes barred using federal highway funds to build through parks if a feasible and prudent alternative route existed, and otherwise required the highway design to minimize park harm. The Secretary's public announcements did not include factual findings explaining why no feasible alternative existed or why the design minimized harm. Citizens and conservation groups (plaintiffs) sued; the district court granted the Secretary summary judgment based on litigation affidavits, the Sixth Circuit affirmed, and the plaintiffs sought Supreme Court review.
Whether the absence of formal findings by an agency requires remand where neither the APA nor the authorizing statutes require such formal findings and where an administrative record exists.