T hi s di s pos i t i on i s notappr opr i a t e f orpubl i c a t i on and i s notpr e c e de nt * e xc e pta s pr ovi de d by 9th C i r . R . 36- 3. NOT F OR P UB L I CAT I ON UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS FOR T HE NI NTH CI RC UI T LE AG UE TO SAVE LAKE TAHO E, P la in tif

f - A p p e lla n t, v. T AH OE R E GI ON AL P L AN NI NG A G E N C Y ; e t a l., D efen d an t s - A p p el l ees. N o. 11- 17318 D . C . N o . 3 : 0 9 -cv -0 0 4 7 8 -R C JR AM ME MOR AN DU M *

A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt

f orthe D i s tr i c tof

N e va da R obe rtC l i ve J one s , C hi e f D i s tr i c tJ udge , P r e s i di ng A r gue d a nd S ubm i tt e d S e pt e m be r10, 2012 S a n F r a n c is c o , C a lif

o rn ia B efo re: A L A R C Ó N , T H O M A S , an d B E R Z O N , C i rcu i tJu d g es. T he L ea gu e t o S ave L ake T ahoe (“ the L ea gu e” ) app ea l s f rom the di stri ct c our t ’ s s um m a ry j udgm e ntuphol di ng the r e gul a t ory appr ova l s i s s ue d by the T a hoe R e gi ona l P l a nni ng A ge nc y ( “ T R P A ” or“ the a ge nc y ” ) f orthe S i e rr aC ol i naV i l l a ge pr oj e c t . W e ha ve j ur i s di c t i on unde r28 U . S . C . § 1291. W e va c a t e the j udgm e nt 

# FI LED OC T 11 2012 M OLLY C. DW Y ER, CLERK U . S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS2

a nd r e m a nd f

orf urthe rpr oc e e di ngs . B e c aus e the pa r t i e s a r e f a m i l i a rw i th the fa ctual and p roce du ra l hi st ory of thi s c as e, w e nee d n otre coun ti there . I C o n tr a ry to T R P A ’s a s s e rtio n , th e L e a g u e h a s s ta n d in g to s u e o n its m em bers ’ behal f. “ A n o rgani za t i on m aybri ng an ac t i on on behal f of i t s m em bers if: (1 ) th e in d iv idu al m em b er s w o u ldh av e s tan d in g to su e; (2 ) th e o rg an izatio n ’s purpos e r e l a t e s t o the i nt e r e s t s be i ng vi ndi c a t e d; a nd ( 3) the c l a i m s a s s e r t e d do not r e qui r e the pa rt i c i pa t i on of i ndi vi dua l m e m be r s . T he i ndi vi dua l m e m be r s ha ve s ta n d in g if

th e y c a n d e m o n s tr a te th a t a n a c tu a l o rth r e a te n e d in ju ry e x is ts , w h ic h is f a i r l y tr a c e abl e t o the c ha l l e nge d a c t i on, a nd tha ts uc h i nj ury i s l i ke l y t o be re dres se d b y afa vo rabl e dec i si on . ” Sa ve O u r So n o ra n , In c. v. Flo w ers , 408 F . 3d 1113, 1119 ( 9th C i r . 2004) ( c i t i ng E c ologi c al R i ght s Found. v . P ac . L um be rC o. , 2 3 0 F .3 d 1 1 4 1 , 1 1 4 7 ( 9 th C ir . 2 0 0 0 ) ) ( c ita tio n o m itte d ) . T R P A f o c u s e s its st andi ng ar gu m enton the ac tual i nj ury prong , cl ai m i ng thatthe L ea gu e’ s m em bers h a v e in a d e q u a te ly a lle g e d ac o n c r e te in ju ry f r o m th e c h a lle n g e d a g e n c y d e c is io n . H ow e ve r , the de c l a r a t i ons s ubm i tt e d i n the di s tr i c tc our te s t abl i s h tha ta tl e a s tone of the L ea gu e’ s m em bers w i l l suff erac tual i nj ury f

rom the chal l enged agency d e c is io n th a t is s u f

f ic ie n t f o rs ta n d in g p u rp o s e s .3

T h e p a rtie s a g r e e th a t in c r e a s e d la n d c o v e r a g e in th e T a h o e B a s in c onc om i t a nt l y i nc r e a s e s di s c ha r ge s of s e di m e nta nd othe rpol l ut a nt s t o L a ke Ta h o e , a n d th e Le a g u e a d e q u a t e l y a l l e g e s th a tth e c o v e r a g e tr a n s f e rf o rLPF 3 p er m it s g re aterlan d co v er ag e f o r th e S ierr a C o li n a V il lag e p roject th an T R P A ’s C od e of O rdi nances (“ C od e” ) otherw i se al l ow s. T he L ea gu e nee d n otprov e that en v i ro n m en t al h arm w i l l resu l tfro m th e ch al l en g ed co v erag e tran sfer t o est ab l i sh s ta n d in g ; th e s u b s ta n tia te d th r e a t o f h a rm s u f

f ic e s . See, e. g. , O ce an A dvocat es v. U . S. A rmy C o rp s o

f E n g ’rs , 402 F . 3d 846, 860 ( 9th C i r . 2004) ( quot i ng E c ologi c al R i ght s Found. , 23 0 F . 3d at11 51 ). I I I n r e vi e w i ng T R P A ’ s f

i ndi ngs , w e do “ note xe r c i s e [ our ] i nde pe nde nt j ud gm enton evi dence but . . . on l y det erm i ne w hether [ T R P A ’ s] ac tor deci si on w as supp ort ed by subst ant i al evi dence i n l i gh tof the w ho l e r ec ord. ” T ahoe R egi on al C om pa c tA rt . V I (

j ) ( 5) . A ppl y i ng thi s s t a ndar d, w e c onc l ude tha tthe e xi s t i ng r e c or d doe s nota de qua t e l y s uppor ttw o of the m a nda t ory f

i ndi ngs unde r l y i ng T R P A ’s ap p r o v a l o f

th e la n d c o v e r a g e tr a n s f e rf o rL P F 3 .T o the ext entthatthe agency r el i es on the nu m ber of proj ec t ed pu bl i c use rs 1 of the L P F ne tw ork t o s upportac onc l us i on tha tL P F 3 w i l l “ pr i m a r i l y ” s e rve nonresi d en t s o f S i erra C o l i n a V i l l ag e, rel i ab l e est i m at es o f th e an t i ci p at ed p u b l i c u se w ill b e h e lp f

u l. A d d it io n ally, t o th e e x ten t th at T R P A co n ti n u es to re ly o n L P F 3 ’s v a lu e a s a n e m e r g e n c y tr a v e l r o u te , th e a g e n c y s h o u ld e l uc i da t e i n the r e c or d how L P F 3 w oul d f

unc t i on a s a n e m e r ge nc y r out e f ori ndi vi dua l s notr e s i di ng i n the ne w de ve l opm e nt , w ha te xi s t i ng r oa d c apa c i ty de f i c i e nc i e s i tw oul d a l l e vi a t e , a nd h o w th a tf

u n c t i o n c o n tr i b u t e s t o th e c o n c l u s i o n th a tth e LPF pri m ari l y se rves p u b lic n e e d s . 4 A T he e xi s t i ng r e c or d doe s nota de qua t e l y s uppor tT R P A ’ s f i ndi ng, pur s ua nt to C o d e § 2 0 .3 .B ( 4 ) ( d ) , th a t L P F 3 w ill p r im a r ily s e rv e th e n e e d s o f in d iv id u a ls othe rtha n S i e rr aC ol i nar e s i de nt s . W hi l e the r e c or d s how s tha tL P F 3 w i l l pr ovi de ava l uabl e l i nk i n D ougl a s C ounty ’ s tr a i l ne tw ork, i tdoe s note s t abl i s h tha tthe a c c e s s r o a d w ill p r im a r ily s e rv e m e m b e r s o f th e p u b lic u tiliz in g th a t tr a il n e tw o rk . T hi s appe a l doe s notr e qui r e us t o de t e rm i ne w he the rthe C ode ’ s de f i ni t i on of

“ pr i m a r i l y ” de m a nds apur e l y qua nt i t a t i ve de t e rm i na t i on of L P F 3’ s va l ue t o the p u b l i c . O n r e ma n d , h o w e v e r , TRPA mu s ta r t i c u l a t e i t s b a s i s f o rf i n d i n g th a tLPF 3 w i l l notonl y ha ve publ i c be ne f i t s , butw i l l “ pr i m a r i l y ” s e rve publ i c ne e ds a s the a g e n c y r e a s o n ab l y r e a d s th a tt e rm. 1 B T he exi st i ng re cord al so do es no tcont ai n sub st ant i al evi dence thatthere ar e n o f e a s ib le a lte rn a tiv e s to th e ap p r o v e d c o v e r a g e tr a n s f e rf o rL P F 3 th a t w o u ld5

r e d u c e S ie rr aC o lin aV illa g e ’s o v e r a ll la n d c o v e r a g e . See C od e § 20 . 3. B (4)( b). L e a gue a de qua t e l y , i f

i m pe r f e c t l y , r a i s e d i t s a l t e rna t i ve s a r gum e nt s dur i ng the a d m in is tr a tiv e p r o c e s s , s e e L a n d s C o u n c il v . McN

a ir , 6 2 9 F .3 d 1 0 7 0 , 1 0 7 6 ( 9 th C i r. 20 10 ), and the C od e ul t i m at el y pl ac es the bu rden on T R P A t o fi nd thatthere ar e no feas i bl e a l t ernat i ves thatw ou l d reduce l and cov er age. W hi l e T R P A has s how n tha tthe a c c e s s r oa d’ s f ul l l e ngth a nd tw e nty - f

ootw i dth m a y be us e f

ul f or n o n -v eh i cu l ar an d em erg en cy trav el (p art i cu l arl y i n co n j u n ct i o n w i th v eh i cu l ar u se by S i erraC ol i na V i l l age r es i dent s) , the agency has no tm ar shal ed subst ant i al e vi de nc e tha ti ti s i nf

e a s i bl e t o l i m i tthe c ove r a ge tr a ns f e rt o the s qua r e f

oot a ge ne c e s s a ry f

orL P F 3’ s publ i c purpos e s , w he the rby c r e di t i ng onl y the l e ngth of the r oa dw a y ne e de d t o di r e c t l y l i nk the bi c y c l e pa ths , c r e di t i ng onl y the m i ni m um w i dth ne e de d f

orbi c y c l e a nd pe de s tr i a n tr a ve l , orboth. II I C o d e § 2 0 . 3 . B (4 ) req u i res th at“ [t ] h e m ax i m u m l an d co v erag e (b ase c ove r a ge pl us tr a ns f

e rr e d c ove r a ge ) f

orl i ne a rpubl i c f

a c i l i t i e s . . . [ be ] l i m i t e d t o the m in im u m a m o u n t n e e d e d to a c h ie v e th e irp u b lic p u rp o s e .” C o d e § 2 0 .3 .B ( 4 ) . C o n tr a ry to th e L e a g u e ’s a r g u m e n t, n o th in g in C o d e § 2 0 .3 .B ( 4 ) r e q u ir e s T R P A to m a ke a n e xpr e s s , s e pa r a t e f i ndi ng tha tthe l a nd c ove r a ge a ttr i but e d t o L P F 3 i s the m i ni m um ne c e s s a ry t o a c hi e ve i t s publ i c purpos e s o l ong a s the r e qui s i t e f i ndi ngs6

a r e m a de a nd the m i ni m um - a m ountr e qui r e m e ntha s be e n othe rw i s e s a t i s f i e d by the r e c or d a s aw hol e . T hus , a l though i tm i ghtbe prude ntpol i c y , a nd a n a i d t o the re vi ew i ng C ou rt , for T R P A t o m ake the expres s f i nd i ng , vaca t i on of the agency de c i s i on i s notr e qui r e d s i m pl y be c aus e the f i ndi ng w a s note xpr e s s l y a nd se para t el y m ade. I V Be c au s e s u b s t a n t i a l e v i d e n c e d o e s n o ts u p p o r ttw o ma n d a t o ry TRPA fi nd i ng s, w e m ustvaca t e the di stri ctcourtj ud gm ent . W e, ho w ever , re cogn i ze that the L e a gue ’ s c ha l l e nge s a s de s c r i be d on appe a l a r e m uc h m or e de t a i l e d tha n the obj e c t i ons m a de be f

or e T R P A i n the f

i r s ti ns t anc e , a nd tha tT R P A m us tbe a f f o r d e d th e o p p o rtu n ity to r e e x a m in e th e o b je c tio n s a n d e n te rn e w f in d in g s . W e r em and t o the di stri ctcourtw i th i nstruct i on s t o v ac at e T R P A ’ s app roval of the l and cov er age transfe r f or L P F 3 and re m and the m att erback t o the agency f o rf u r th e rp r o c e e d in g s c o n s is te n t w ith th is d is p o s itio n . W e n e e d n o t, a n d d o n o t, r e a c h a n y o th e ris s u e u r g e d b y th e p a r tie s . V AC AT E D A ND RE MAND E D.