Hanly v. Kleindienst
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
471 F.2d 823 (1972)
Denis Hanly and other New York City residents and businesses (plaintiffs) sued federal officials including Attorney General Richard Kleindienst (defendant) to halt construction of a 12-story federal courthouse annex containing an office center and a detention center for about 450 pretrial and short-term federal inmates, arguing the General Services Administration (GSA) had failed to prepare a NEPA-required Environmental Impact Statement. The district court initially sided with defendants; on a prior appeal ("Hanley I"), the Second Circuit affirmed as to the office center but reversed as to the detention center, finding GSA had not adequately investigated impacts like noise, traffic, and crime. GSA then produced a 25-page environmental assessment concluding no significant impact, and the district court again denied an injunction; plaintiffs appealed again.
Whether, under the National Environmental Policy Act, a federal agency must give the public notice and an opportunity to respond before making a preliminary or threshold determination of whether to proceed with a major federal project without a full Environmental Impact Statement.