Cite as: 503 U. S. 569 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
tions at § 320.4(g)(6), upon which Alaska places some weight, clearly do not speak to property disputes of the type at issue here. Moreover, we are unpersuaded by Alaska's contention that the authority to require disclaimers cannot be inferred from the regulatory scheme. It would make little sense, and be inconsistent with Congress' intent, to hold that the Corps legitimately may prohibit construction of a port facility, and yet to deny it the authority to seek the less drastic alternative of conditioning issuance of a permit on the State's disclaimer of rights to accreted submerged lands.
Alaska also makes various challenges to the administrative procedures followed in this case, and especially to the alleged shortcoming of the Secretary in not formalizing the authority to condition disclaimers of sovereignty in the permit-issuance process.13 The "policy" followed in this case, however, is not contrary to law simply because of its specific omission from the regulations. See United States v. Gaubert, 499 U. S. 315, 324 (1991) (observing that some agencies "establish policy on a case-by-case basis, whether through adjudicatory proceedings or through administration of agency programs"). Certainly the Corps communicated its intention openly to the appropriate state officials, and therefore did not force Alaska " 'to litigate with agencies on the basis of secret laws.' " Renegotiation Bd. v. Banner-craft Clothing Co., 415 U. S. 1, 9 (1974) (quoting the case below, 151 U. S. App. D. C. 174, 181, 466 F. 2d 345, 352 (1972)). See Joint Stipulation of Facts 24a-25a. The United States avers that such disclaimers have been requested on a case-13 The State also contests the legality of the Secretary's actions in this case under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U. S. C. § 706, especially the regulations at 33 CFR § 320.4(f) (1991) that authorize the Secretary to take into account changes in the base line in making § 10 permit issuance decisions. Contrary to Alaska's contention, these regulations were adopted through notice and comment proceedings, see 39 Fed. Reg. 12115 (1974); 38 Fed. Reg. 12217 (1973), as were subsequent amendments, see 51 Fed. Reg. 41220 (1986); 42 Fed. Reg. 37122 (1977).
591
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