It was decided by a 6-3 vote, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hill, et al. and granted an injunction stating that there would be conflict between Tellico Dam operation and the explicit provisions of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.

The majority opinion, delivered by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, affirmed the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in granting an injunction.

[1] This decision by the Supreme Court to not allow exemptions confirmed that Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act was a strong substantive provision and helped shape federal environmental law.

[2] The case is commonly cited as an example of the strict construction-plain meaning canon of construction, and the equitable principle that courts cannot balance equities to override statutory mandates unless on constitutional grounds.

At the time of its creation, its mission was to help strengthen economic development of the Tennessee River basin, a region hit with high unemployment where the per capita income was less than half the national average.

[6] The publicly owned corporation provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system and assists utilities and state and local governments with economic development.

Hiram Hill was spending time with Dr. David Etnier, a biologist and professor, who had discovered the snail darter while scuba diving in the Little Tennessee River.

[8][9][2] Congress continued to fund the project under the annual Public Works Appropriations Act and Judge Taylor dissolved the injunction after a year and dismissed the NEPA suit.

TVA argued for an exception to be made in this case since the dam was started prior to the Endangered Species Act being passed and claimed it should be grandfathered in.

Justices Lewis F. Powell, Jr. and Harry Blackmun agreed with the majority opinion with the wording of the Endangered Species Act, but disagreed that there could not be exception.

Here the District Court recognized that Congress, when it enacted the Endangered Species Act, made the preservation of the habitat of the snail darter an important public concern.

I therefore dissent from the Court's opinion holding otherwise.He agreed that TVA was in violation of the Endangered Species Act, but thought there should be a balancing of equities in this case.

An exemption could be granted if a majority of the committee members found: If approved, the extinction of a species would be allowed and the agency would be required to implement a mitigation plan.