Master Foundational administrative law decision establishing robust judicial review of informal agency action and a stringent reading of the § 4(f) parkland protection statute. with this comprehensive case brief.
Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe is a landmark Supreme Court case that reshaped judicial review of informal agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Decided in 1971, the case addressed whether the Secretary of Transportation could approve routing a federally funded interstate highway through a public park in Memphis without formal findings, and whether such a decision was reviewable under the APA’s arbitrary-and-capricious standard. The Court rejected the government’s attempt to shield the decision as “committed to agency discretion by law” and insisted on meaningful judicial review grounded in a proper administrative record.
Overton Park is often cited as an early articulation of what later came to be called “hard look” review. The Court emphasized that review must be “searching and careful,” even though ultimately narrow, and that courts must ensure agencies considered all relevant factors and did not commit a clear error of judgment. The decision also elevated the protective force of § 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act, setting a high bar against using parklands for highways unless no feasible and prudent alternative exists and all possible planning has been undertaken to minimize harm.
401 U.S. 402 (1971) (U.S. Supreme Court)
Memphis and federal officials planned to route Interstate 40 through Overton Park, a large urban park containing recreational and cultural amenities. Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act (and the parallel § 138 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act) prohibited the use of federal funds for highway construction through public parks unless (1) there was no feasible and prudent alternative to such use, and (2) the project included all possible planning to minimize harm to the park. The Secretary of Transportation (Volpe) approved the route through Overton Park without issuing formal findings. A citizens’ group sued, arguing that the Secretary violated § 4(f) and that the decision was arbitrary and capricious under the APA. The District Court granted summary judgment for the government, relying on litigation affidavits from agency officials; the Sixth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to determine the reviewability of the decision, the applicable standard of review, and the sufficiency of the record and agency rationale.
Is the Secretary of Transportation’s decision to approve a highway route through public parkland reviewable under the APA, and if so, what is the standard and scope of review where the agency action is informal and unaccompanied by formal findings; did the agency comply with § 4(f)’s requirements that there be no feasible and prudent alternatives and that harm be minimized?
There is a strong presumption of judicial review of agency action under the APA. The exception for actions “committed to agency discretion by law,” 5 U.S.C. § 701(a)(2), is very narrow and applies only where there is no law to apply. Informal agency action is reviewed under § 706(2)(A) for arbitrariness and caprice. Courts must conduct a searching and careful review to determine whether the agency considered relevant factors and made a clear error of judgment, while not substituting their own policy views. Judicial review focuses on the administrative record; post hoc litigation rationalizations are generally insufficient. Courts should not probe into the mental processes of decisionmakers absent a strong showing of bad faith or improper behavior, but may require the agency to provide the full administrative record and, if necessary, contemporaneous explanations. Under § 4(f), the Secretary may approve use of parkland only if there is no feasible and prudent alternative, and only after all possible planning to minimize harm is undertaken. Alternatives are deemed imprudent only when truly unusual factors are present or when costs or community disruption reach extraordinary magnitudes.
The Secretary’s approval was reviewable under the APA; § 701(a)(2) did not bar review because § 4(f) provides law to apply. The appropriate standard is arbitrary-and-capricious review under § 706(2)(A), requiring searching and careful scrutiny of the agency’s consideration of relevant factors. Because there were no formal findings or adequate administrative record to permit meaningful review, the lower courts erred in granting summary judgment based on litigation affidavits. The case was remanded for plenary review on the full administrative record to determine whether the Secretary complied with § 4(f)’s stringent requirements.
The Court first rejected the contention that the decision was unreviewable as committed to agency discretion. Section 4(f) sets a substantive standard—no highway through parkland unless no feasible and prudent alternative exists and harm is minimized—providing a meaningful legal yardstick. Thus, courts can evaluate whether the Secretary adhered to these statutory constraints. Turning to the standard of review, the Court held that informal approvals not preceded by trial-type hearings fall under § 706(2)(A)’s arbitrary-and-capricious standard. Review is “searching and careful,” though narrow, asking whether the agency considered the relevant factors and avoided a clear error of judgment. The Court interpreted § 4(f) as creating a high barrier to parkland use: Congress gave parks “paramount” protection, and alternatives are imprudent only when truly unusual factors exist or when costs/impacts are extraordinary. Ordinary cost, inconvenience, or community disruption do not suffice to override park preservation. However, the Court found that the Secretary provided no contemporaneous findings or administrative record adequate for judicial scrutiny; the government relied primarily on post hoc affidavits to justify the decision. The APA requires that judicial review occur on the basis of the record before the agency at the time of decision, not litigation rationalizations. The appropriate remedy was remand for development of the full administrative record and, if necessary, additional explanations. The Court cautioned against probing the mental processes of administrators, except upon a strong showing of bad faith or impropriety, but allowed the district court to require the agency to produce the record and explain its decision. Because meaningful review could not occur without a proper record, the summary judgment for the government was improper.
Overton Park institutionalized robust, record-based judicial review of informal agency action and laid the foundation for modern hard look review. It established the strong presumption of reviewability, limited the § 701(a)(2) exception to rare cases with no law to apply, and clarified that courts must ensure agencies have considered relevant factors without substituting their own judgment. The case also cemented the requirement that agencies compile an administrative record sufficient for review and discouraged reliance on post hoc litigation affidavits. Substantively, it construed § 4(f) to strongly favor park preservation, elevating environmental and recreational values in federal transportation decisions. For students, Overton Park is a core case connecting APA standards of review, administrative records, and statutory constraints on agency discretion.
Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act (and the parallel § 138 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act) prohibits using federal funds for highway projects that use public parkland unless (1) there is no feasible and prudent alternative, and (2) the agency has included all possible planning to minimize harm. In Overton Park, § 4(f) provided a concrete legal standard—law to apply—that made the Secretary’s decision reviewable and set a high bar against routing highways through parks.
Overton Park required a searching and careful judicial inquiry into whether the agency considered relevant factors and avoided clear errors of judgment, even in informal decisions. It demanded a contemporaneous administrative record and rejected post hoc rationalizations. These elements became hallmarks of hard look review, later elaborated in cases like Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association v. State Farm (1983).
No. The Court acknowledged that no statute required formal findings for this informal decision. But it insisted on an administrative record and adequate explanation to permit meaningful review. If the contemporaneous record is insufficient, the proper course is remand to the agency, not reliance on litigation affidavits created after the fact.
Arbitrary-and-capricious review under § 706(2)(A) applies to informal agency actions and asks whether the agency considered relevant factors and avoided clear errors of judgment. The substantial evidence test under § 706(2)(E) applies when agency action is taken on the record after a formal hearing and asks whether the agency’s findings are supported by substantial evidence. Overton Park confirmed that informal actions are reviewed under the arbitrary-and-capricious standard.
Judicial review ordinarily is confined to the administrative record. Courts should not inquire into the mental processes of agency decisionmakers absent a strong showing of bad faith or improper behavior. Overton Park allows courts to require the agency to produce the full record and provide contemporaneous explanations, and in exceptional circumstances to take testimony to clarify the basis for the decision.
Overton Park redirected administrative law toward rigorous, record-based review of informal decisionmaking. By rejecting the government’s attempt to categorize the decision as unreviewable and by elevating the need for a contemporaneous administrative record, the Court protected the judiciary’s role in ensuring agencies act within statutory bounds and consider all relevant factors.
At the same time, the decision articulated a stringent substantive standard under § 4(f), making clear that parkland enjoys heightened protection and that alternatives are imprudent only under truly exceptional circumstances. Together, these doctrines seeded the modern hard look approach and remain essential tools for understanding APA review and environmental constraints on agency discretion.