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<br />. <br /> <br />8 <br /> <br />Protection of Wetlands, and, in particular, the requirement to avoid wet- . <br />lands unless they are the only practicable location. the .practicability" <br />provision appears in both Executive Order 11990 and in Executive Order 11988, <br />Floodplain Hanagement. the court's interpretation of .practicable. under <br />Executive Order 11990 is equally applicable to use of the term in the <br />companion order, Executive Order 11988. <br /> <br />In this case, an environmental group sued the Department of Transportation <br />(DOT) to enjoin them from building a highway through wetlands. Tbe court <br />found thst DOT had adequately considered alternative sites and had taken <br />the necessary minimization measures. <br /> <br />The court found that the test for determining whether an alternative is <br />practicable is whether it is capable of attainment within existing relevant <br />constraints. the court determined thst: <br /> <br />....Executive Order 11990 allows consideration of <br />environmental, technological, legal and financial <br />factors. Of course, present unavailability of <br />sufficient financial resources to implement either <br />alternatives or mitigative measures cannot be used <br />as the sole, or even the major determinant to a <br />finding of impracticability.. <br />629 F.2d at 592, Footnote 7. Emphasis added. <br /> <br />Thus, a location outside of a floodplain or wetland may not be rendered im- <br />practicable solely by a lack of funds. Further, if a lack of money is con- . <br />sidered along with other factors, it may not be the major factor in finding <br />that a non-floodplain or non-wetland location is not practicable. Similarly, <br />a present lack of money may not be the "sole or even the major" factor in <br />finding that hazard mitigation measures are not practicable. <br /> <br />It is also noteworthy that the court assumed, without specifically addressing, <br />that Federal agencies could be sued under the executive orders. <br /> <br />JONES AMENDMENT <br /> <br />Section 1364 of the 1968 Act, as amended, requires financing institutions <br />supervised, approved, regulate~or insured by the Federal Government to give <br />purchasers of real property, located within special flood hazard areas, <br />written notice of that fact prior to closing the transaction. While the <br />requirement is clear, there is no express remedy identified in the statute <br />for failure to comply. There have been a few cases decided on the question <br />of whether a court can imply a remedy where a bank has failed to provide <br />the required notice. <br /> <br />In Pippin v. Burkhalter, 279 S.E.2d 603 (S.Car. 1981), the Supreme Court of <br />South Carolina held the Jones Amendment does not create a private cause of <br />action. It found that the purpose of the act was to encourage proper flood <br /> <br />. <br />