Cite as: 503 U. S. 569 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
general, the needs and welfare of the people." 33 CFR § 320.4(a)(1) (1991).
These regulations guide the Secretary's consideration of "public interest" factors to evaluate in determining whether to issue a permit under § 10 of the RHA. To the extent Alaska contends that these regulations are invalid because they authorize the Secretary to consider a wider range of factors than just the effects of a project on navigability, we reject this position. The State's reading of the Secretary's regulatory authority in this respect is inconsistent with the statute's language, our cases interpreting it, and the agency's practice since the late 1960's.
III
Alaska appears to concede some ground by acknowledging that the Secretary may not be limited solely to issues of navigability in considering whether to issue a § 10 permit.7 The State in effect contends that, even if the statute authorizes consideration of factors other than just navigability, the regulations authorizing consideration of a project's consequences on the federal-state boundary exceed the Secretary's statutory mandate. The regulation at issue provides in pertinent part as follows:
7 Alaska acknowledges, for example, that the Secretary can take into account the polluting consequences of a project, see Brief for Alaska 17, though the language of § 10 includes no mention of such effects. And a brief filed by numerous States and the Coastal States Organization as amici curiae appears to go even further by suggesting that "the Army Corps may deny a permit for the construction of a harbor facility if it is determined that the construction or facility would result in an obstruction to navigation, endanger human health or welfare, the marine environment, or the economic potential." Brief for Alabama et al. as Amici Curiae 17 (emphasis added). Plainly these factors are not mentioned in RHA § 10. As our analysis will make clear, the United States is fundamentally correct that there is no legal basis for authorizing the Secretary to consider these factors but not the effects of a project on the federal-state boundary.
583
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