Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/497/871/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 16:32:07+00:00

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The National Wildlife Federation (hereinafter respondent) filed this action in the District Court against petitioners, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other federal parties, alleging that, in various respects, they had violated the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) in the course of administering the BLM's "land withdrawal review program," and that the complained-of actions should be set aside because they were "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law" within the meaning of § 10(e) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706. Under the program, petitioners make various types of decisions affecting the status of public lands and their availability for private uses such as mining, a number of which decisions were listed in an appendix to the complaint. The court granted petitioners' motion for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, holding that respondent lacked standing to seek judicial review of petitioners' actions under the APA, § 702. The court ruled that affidavits by two of respondent's members, Peterson and Erman, claiming use of public lands "in the vicinity" of lands covered by two of the listed decisions, were insufficient to confer standing as to those particular decisions, and that, even if they had been adequate for that limited purpose, they could not support respondent's attempted APA challenge to each of the 1,250 or so individual actions effected under the program. The court rejected as untimely four more member affidavits pertaining to standing, which were submitted after argument on the summary judgment motion and in purported response to the District Court's postargument request for additional briefing. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the Peterson and Erman affidavits were sufficient in themselves, that it was an abuse of discretion not to consider the four additional affidavits, and that standing to challenge the individual decisions conferred standing to challenge all such decisions.
1. The Peterson and Erman affidavits are insufficient to establish respondent's § 702 entitlement to judicial review as "[a] person . . .
adversely affected or aggrieved by agency action within the meaning of a relevant statute." Pp. 497 U. S. 882-889.
(a) To establish a right to relief under § 702, respondent must satisfy two requirements. First, it must show that it has been affected by some "agency action," as defined in § 551(13). See § 701(b)(2). Since neither the FLPMA nor NEPA provides a private right of action, the "agency action" in question must also be "final agency action" under § 704. Second, respondent must prove that it is "adversely affected or aggrieved" by that action "within the meaning of a relevant statute," which requires a showing that the injury complained of falls within the "zone of interests" sought to be protected by the FLPMA and NEPA. Cf. Clarke v. Securities Industry Assn., 479 U. S. 388, 479 U. S. 396-397. Pp. 497 U. S. 882-883.
(b) When a defendant moves for summary judgment on the ground that the plaintiff has failed to establish a right to relief under 702, the burden is on the plaintiff, under Rule 56(e), to set forth specific facts (even though they may be controverted by the defendant) showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Cf. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U. S. 317, 477 U. S. 322. Where no such showing is made, the defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. at 477 U. S. 323. Pp. 497 U. S. 883-885.
(c) The specific facts alleged in the two affidavits do not raise a genuine issue of fact as to whether respondent has a right to relief under § 702. It may be assumed that the allegedly affected interests set forth in the affidavits -- "recreational use and aesthetic enjoyment" -- are sufficiently related to respondent's purposes that respondent meets § 702's requirements if any of its members do. Moreover, each affidavit can be read to complain of a particular "agency action" within § 551's meaning; and whatever "adverse effect" or "aggrievement" is established by the affidavits meets the "zone of interests" test, since "recreational use and aesthetic enjoyment" are among the sorts of interests that the FLPMA and NEPA are designed to protect. However, there has been no showing that those interests of Peterson and Erman were actually "affected" by petitioners' actions, since the affidavits alleged only that the affiants used unspecified lands "in the vicinity of" immense tracts of territory, only on some portions of which, the record shows, mining activity has occurred or probably will occur by virtue of the complained-of actions. The Court of Appeals erred in ruling that the District Court had to presume specific facts sufficient to support the general allegations of injury to the affiants, since such facts are essential to sustaining the complaint and, under Rule 56(e), had to be set forth by respondent. United States v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (SCRAP), 412 U. S. 669, distinguished. Pp. 497 U. S. 885-889.
2. Respondent's four additional member affidavits did not establish its right to § 702 review. Pp. 497 U. S. 890-898.
(a) The affidavits are insufficient to enable respondent to challenge the entirety of petitioners' "land withdrawal review program." That term does not refer to a single BLM order or regulation, or even to a completed universe of particular BLM orders and regulations, but is simply the name by which petitioners have occasionally referred to certain continuing (and thus constantly changing) BLM operations regarding public lands, which currently extend to about 1,250 individual decisions and presumably will include more actions in the future. Thus, the program is not an identifiable "agency action" within § 702's meaning, much less a "final agency action" under § 704. Absent an explicit congressional authorization to correct the administrative process on a systemic level, agency action is not ordinarily considered "ripe" for judicial review under the APA until the scope of the controversy has been reduced to manageable proportions, and its factual components fleshed out, by concrete action that harms or threatens to harm the complainant. It may well be, due to the scope of the "program," that the individual BLM actions identified in the affidavits will not be "ripe" for challenge until some further agency action or inaction more immediately harming respondent occurs. But it is entirely certain that the flaws in the entire "program" cannot be laid before the courts for wholesale correction under the APA simply because one of them that is ripe for review adversely affects one of respondent's members. Respondent must seek such programmatic improvements from the BLM or Congress. Pp. 497 U. S. 890-894.
(b) The District Court did not abuse its discretion in declining to admit the supplemental affidavits. Since the affidavits were filed in response to the court's briefing order following the summary judgment hearing, they were untimely under, inter alia, Rule 6(d), which provides that "opposing affidavits may be served not later than 1 day before the hearing." Although Rule 6(b) allows a court, "in its discretion," to extend any filing deadline "for cause shown," a post-deadline extension must be "upon motion made," and is permissible only where the failure to meet the deadline "was the result of excusable neglect." Here, respondent made no motion for extension, nor any showing of "cause." Moreover, the failure to timely file did not result from "excusable neglect," since the court's order setting the hearing on the summary judgment motion put respondent on notice that its right to sue was at issue, and that (absent proper motion) the time for filing additional evidentiary materials was, at the latest, the day before the hearing. Even if the court could have overcome these obstacles to admit the affidavits, it was not compelled, in exercising its discretion, to do so. Pp. 497 U. S. 894-898.
3. Respondent is not entitled to seek § 702 review of petitioners' actions in its own right. The brief affidavit submitted to the District Court to show that respondent's ability to fulfill its informational and advocacy functions was "adversely affected" by petitioners' alleged failure to provide adequate information and opportunities for public participation with respect to the land withdrawal review program fails to identify any particular "agency action" that was the source of respondent's alleged injuries, since that program is not an identifiable action or event. Thus, the affidavit does not set forth the specific facts necessary to survive a Rule 56 motion. Pp. 497 U. S. 898-899.
278 U.S.App.D.C. 320, 878 F.2d 422, reversed.
SCALIA, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which REHNQUIST C.J., and WHITE, O'CONNOR, and KENNEDY, JJ., joined. BLACKMUN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BRENNAN, MARSHALL, and STEVENS, JJ., joined, post, p. 497 U. S. 900.
Respondent filed this action in 1985 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against petitioners the United States Department of the Interior, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency within the Department. In its amended complaint, respondent alleged that petitioners had violated the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), 90 Stat. 2744, 43 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq. (1982 ed.), the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 83 Stat. 852, 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq., and § 10(e) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706, in the course of administering what the complaint called the "land withdrawal review program" of the BLM. Some background information concerning that program is necessary to an understanding of this dispute.
public lands of the United States . . . and reserve the same for water-power sites, irrigation, classification of lands, or other public purposes. . . ."
"and to open such lands to entry, selection, or location for disposal in accordance with such classification under applicable public land laws."
"[s]uch lands shall not be subject to disposition, settlement, or occupation until after the same have been classified and opened to entry."
Ibid. The 1964 classification and multiple use Act, 78 Stat. 986, 43 U.S.C. §§ 1411-1418 (1970 ed.) (expired 1970), gave the Secretary further authority to classify lands for the purpose of either disposal or retention by the Federal Government.
"Congress should provide for a careful review of (1) all Executive withdrawals and reservations, and (2) BLM retention and disposal classifications under the Classification and Multiple Use Act of 1964."
"determine whether, and for how long, the continuation of the existing withdrawal of the lands would be, in his judgment, consistent with the statutory objectives of the programs for which the lands were dedicated and of the other relevant programs,"
§ 1714(1)(2). The activities undertaken by the BLM to comply with these various provisions constitute what respondent's amended complaint styles the BLM's "land withdrawal review program," which is the subject of the current litigation.
"report his recommendations to the President, together with statements of concurrence or nonconcurrence submitted by the heads of the departments or agencies which administer the lands;"
the President must in turn submit this report to the Congress, together with his recommendation "for action by the Secretary, or for legislation." § 1714(1)(2). The Secretary has submitted a number of reports to the President in accordance with this provision.
Second, the Secretary revokes some withdrawals under § 204(a) of the Act, which the Office of the Solicitor has interpreted to give the Secretary the power to process proposals for revocation of withdrawals made during the "ordinary course of business." U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Memorandum from the Office of the Solicitor, Oct. 30, 1980. These revocations are initiated in one of three manners: an agency or department holding a portion of withdrawn land that it no longer needs may file a notice of intention to relinquish the lands with the BLM. Any member of the public may file a petition requesting revocation. And in the case of lands held by the BLM, the BLM itself may initiate the revocation proposal. App. 56-57. Withdrawal revocations may be made for several reasons. Some are effected in order to permit sale of the land; some for record-clearing purposes, where the withdrawal designation has been superseded by congressional action or overlaps with another withdrawal designation; some in order to restore the land to multiple use management pursuant to § 102(a)(7) of the FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. § 1701(a)(7) (1982 ed.). App. 142-145.
by the Secretary prescribe the procedures to be followed in the case of each type of classification determination.
"develop, maintain, and, when appropriate, revise land use plans which provide by tracts or areas for the use of the public lands,"
"include in every recommendation or report on . . . major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, a detailed statement by the responsible official on . . . the environmental impact of the proposed action."
42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(C) (1982 ed.). Finally, respondent alleged that all of the above actions were "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law," and should therefore be set aside pursuant to § 10(e) of the APA, 5 U.S.C. § 706. Appended to the amended complaint was a schedule of specific land status determinations, which the complaint stated had been "taken by defendants since January 1, 1981"; each was identified by a listing in the Federal Register.
of lands in the public domain that was in effect on January 1, 1981,"
"concrete indication that [respondent's] members use specific lands covered by the agency's Program and will be adversely affected by the agency's actions,"
and the complaint was "sufficiently specific for purposes of a motion to dismiss." Ibid. On petitions for rehearing, the Court of Appeals stood by its denial of the motion to dismiss, and directed the parties and the District Court "to proceed with this litigation with dispatch." National Wildlife Federation v. Burford, 269 U.S.App.D.C. 271, 272, 844 F.2d 889, 890 (1988).
standing to challenge individual classification and withdrawal decisions conferred standing to challenge all such decisions under the land withdrawal review program. We granted certiorari. 493 U.S. 1042 (1990).
This provision contains two separate requirements. First, the person claiming a right to sue must identify some "agency action" that affects him in the specified fashion; it is judicial review "thereof" to which he is entitled. The meaning of "agency action" for purposes of § 702 is set forth in 5 U.S.C. § 551(13), see 5 U.S.C. § 701(b)(2) ("For the purpose of this chapter . . . agency action' ha[s] the meanin[g] given . . . by section 551 of this title"), which defines the term as "the whole or a part of an agency rule, order, license, sanction, relief, or the equivalent or denial thereof, or failure to act," 5 U.S.C. § 551(13). When, as here, review is sought not pursuant to specific authorization in the substantive statute, but only under the general review provisions of the APA, the "agency action" in question must be "final agency action." See 5 U.S.C. § 704 ("Agency action made reviewable by statute and final agency action for which there is no other adequate remedy in a court are subject to judicial review" (emphasis added)).
Second, the party seeking review under § 702 must show that he has "suffer[ed] legal wrong" because of the challenged agency action, or is "adversely affected or aggrieved" by that action "within the meaning of a relevant statute." Respondent does not assert that it has suffered "legal wrong," so we need only discuss the meaning of "adversely affected or aggrieved . . . within the meaning of a relevant statute." As an original matter, it might be thought that one cannot be "adversely affected or aggrieved within the meaning" of a statute unless the statute in question uses those terms (or terms like them) -- as some pre-APA statutes in fact did when conferring rights of judicial review. See, e.g., Federal Communications Act of 1934, § 402(b)(2), 48 Stat. 1093, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 402(b)(6) (1982 ed.). We have long since rejected that interpretation, however, which would have made the judicial review provision of the APA no more than a restatement of preexisting law. Rather, we have said that, to be "adversely affected or aggrieved . . . within the meaning" of a statute, the plaintiff must establish that the injury he complains of (his aggrievement, or the adverse effect upon him) falls within the "zone of interests" sought to be protected by the statutory provision whose violation forms the legal basis for his complaint. See Clarke v. Securities Industry Assn., 479 U. S. 388, 479 U. S. 396-397 (1987). Thus, for example, the failure of an agency to comply with a statutory provision requiring "on the record" hearings would assuredly have an adverse effect upon the company that has the contract to record and transcribe the agency's proceedings; but since the provision was obviously enacted to protect the interests of the parties to the proceedings, and not those of the reporters, that company would not be "adversely affected within the meaning" of the statute.
"if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law."
"the plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial."
"[t]he moving party is 'entitled to a judgment as a matter of law' because the nonmoving party has failed to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of her case with respect to which she has the burden of proof."
Id. at 477 U. S. 323.
"regardless of whether the moving party accompanies its summary judgment motion with affidavits, the motion may, and should, be granted so long as whatever is before the district court demonstrates that the standard for the entry of summary judgment, as set forth in Rule 56(c), is satisfied."
477 U.S. at 477 U. S. 323.
We turn, then, to whether the specific facts alleged in the two affidavits considered by the District Court raised a genuine issue of fact as to whether an "agency action" taken by petitioners caused respondent to be "adversely affected or aggrieved . . . within the meaning of a relevant statute." We assume, since it has been uncontested, that the allegedly affected interests set forth in the affidavits -- "recreational use and aesthetic enjoyment" -- are sufficiently related to the purposes of respondent association that respondent meets the requirements of § 702 if any of its members do. Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Comm'n, 432 U. S. 333 (1977).
(1982), an order captioned Public Land Order 6156 and dated February 18, 1982.
We also think that whatever "adverse effect" or "aggrievement" is established by the affidavits was "within the meaning of the relevant statute" -- i.e., met the "zone of interests" test. The relevant statute, of course, is the statute whose violation is the gravamen of the complaint -- both the FLPMA and NEPA. We have no doubt that "recreational use and aesthetic enjoyment" are among the sorts of interests those statutes were specifically designed to protect. The only issue, then, is whether the facts alleged in the affidavits showed that those interests of Peterson and Erman were actually affected.
"My recreational use and aesthetic enjoyment of federal lands, particularly those in the vicinity of South Pass-Green Mountain, Wyoming, have been and continue to be adversely affected in fact by the unlawful actions of the Bureau and the Department. In particular, the South Pass-Green Mountain area of Wyoming has been opened to the staking of mining claims and oil and gas leasing, an action which threatens the aesthetic beauty and wildlife habitat potential of these lands."
App. to Pet. for Cert.191a. Erman's affidavit was substantially the same as Peterson's, with respect to all except the area involved; he claimed use of land "in the vicinity of Grand Canyon National Park, the Arizona Strip (Kanab Plateau), and the Kanab National Forest." Id. at 187a.
has been and continues to be adversely affected as the result of the decision of BLM to open it to the staking of mining claims and oil and gas leasing. . . . This decision [W-6228] opened up to mining approximately 4500 acres within a two million acre area, the balance of which, with the exception of 2000 acres, has always been open to mineral leasing and mining. . . . There is no showing that Peterson's recreational use and enjoyment extends to the particular 4500 acres covered by the decision to terminate classification to the remainder of the two million acres affected by the termination. All she claims is that she uses lands 'in the vicinity.' The affidavit, on its face, contains only a bare allegation of injury, and fails to show specific facts supporting the affiant's allegation."
699 F.Supp. at 331 (emphasis in original).
"The magnitude of Erman's claimed injury stretches the imagination. . . . [T]he Arizona Strip consists of all lands in Arizona north and west of the Colorado River on approximately 5.5 million acres, an area one-eighth the size of the State of Arizona. Furthermore, virtually the entire Strip is, and for many years has been, open to uranium and other metalliferous mining. The revocation of withdrawal [in Public Land Order 6156] concerned only non-metalliferous mining in the western one-third of the Arizona Strip, an area possessing no potential for nonmetalliferous mining."
"If Peterson was not referring to lands in this 4500-acre affected area, her allegation of impairment to her use and enjoyment would be meaningless, or perjurious. . . .
[T]he trial court overlooks the fact that, unless Peterson's language is read to refer to the lands affected by the Program, the affidavit is, at best, a meaningless document."
"At a minimum, Peterson's affidavit is ambiguous regarding whether the adversely affected lands are the ones she uses. When presented with ambiguity on a motion for summary judgment, a District Court must resolve any factual issues of controversy in favor of the non-moving party. . . . This means that the District Court was obliged to resolve any factual ambiguity in favor of NWF, and would have had to assume, for the purposes of summary judgment, that Peterson used the 4500 affected acres."
278 U.S.App.D.C. at 329, 878 F.2d at 431.
sworn averment of that fact before the lengthy process of litigation continues.
At the margins, there is some room for debate as to how "specific" must be the "specific facts" that Rule 56(e) requires in a particular case. But where the fact in question is the one put in issue by the § 702 challenge here -- whether one of respondent's members has been, or is threatened to be, "adversely affected or aggrieved" by Government action -- Rule 56(e) is assuredly not satisfied by averments which state only that one of respondent's members uses unspecified portions of an immense tract of territory, on some portions of which mining activity has occurred or probably will occur by virtue of the governmental action. It will not do to "presume" the missing facts because, without them, the affidavits would not establish the injury that they generally allege. That converts the operation of Rule 56 to a circular promenade: plaintiff's complaint makes general allegation of injury; defendant contests through Rule 56 existence of specific facts to support injury; plaintiff responds with affidavit containing general allegation of injury, which must be deemed to constitute averment of requisite specific facts, since otherwise allegation of injury would be unsupported (which is precisely what defendant claims it is).
Respondent places great reliance, as did the Court of Appeals, upon our decision in United States v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (SCRAP), 412 U. S. 669 (1973). The SCRAP opinion, whose expansive expression of what would suffice for § 702 review under its particular facts, has never since been emulated by this Court, is of no relevance here, since it involved not a Rule 56 motion for summary judgment, but a Rule 12(b) motion to dismiss on the pleadings. The latter, unlike the former, presumes that general allegations embrace those specific facts that are necessary to support the claim. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U. S. 41, 355 U. S. 45-46 (1957).
We turn next to the Court of Appeals' alternative holding that the four additional member affidavits proffered by respondent in response to the District Court's briefing order established its right to § 702 review of agency action.
The case-by-case approach that this requires is understandably frustrating to an organization such as respondent, which has as its objective across-the-board protection of our Nation's wildlife and the streams and forests that support it. But this is the traditional, and remains the normal, mode of operation of the courts. Except where Congress explicitly provides for our correction of the administrative process at a higher level of generality, we intervene in the administration of the laws only when, and to the extent that, a specific "final agency action" has an actual or immediately threatened effect. Toilet Goods Assn., 387 U.S. at 387 U. S. 164-166. Such an intervention may ultimately have the effect of requiring a regulation, a series of regulations, or even a whole "program" to be revised by the agency in order to avoid the unlawful result that the court discerns. But it is assuredly not as swift or as immediately far-reaching a corrective process as those interested in systemic improvement would desire. Until confided to us, however, more sweeping actions are for the other branches.
"NWF now has submitted declarations on behalf of other members of NWF who have been injured by the challenged actions of federal defendants."
Record, Doc. No. 278, p. 18, n. 21. In its November 4, 1988, ruling granting petitioners' motion, the District Court rejected the additional affidavits as "untimely and in violation of [the court's briefing] Order." 699 F.Supp. at 328, n. 3.
"[w]hen a motion is supported by affidavit, . . . opposing affidavits may be served not later than 1 day before the hearing, unless the court permits them to be served at some other time."
shown" to mean merely "cause," since respondent made no "showing" of cause at all; and finally, it would have had to find as a substantive matter that there was indeed "cause" for the late filing, and that the failure to file on time "was the result of excusable neglect."
"there was no indication prior to the trial court's request that [respondent] should have doubted the adequacy of the affidavits it had already submitted."
278 U.S.App.D.C. at 331, 878 F.2d at 433. We do not understand the relevance of the first point; the passage of so long a time as two years suggests, if anything, that respondent had more than the usual amount of time to prepare its response to the motion, and was more than moderately remiss in waiting until after the last moment. As to the suggestion of unfair surprise: a litigant is never justified in assuming that the court has made up its mind until the court expresses itself to that effect, and a litigant's failure to buttress its position because of confidence in the strength of that position is always indulged in at the litigant's own risk. In any case, whatever erroneous expectations respondent may have had were surely dispelled by the District Court's order in June, 1988, announcing that the hearing on petitioners' motion would be held one month later. At least when that order issued, respondent was on notice that its right to sue was at issue, and that (absent proper motion) the time for filing any additional evidentiary materials was, at the latest, the day before the hearing.
Perhaps it is true that the District Court could have overcome all the obstacles we have described -- apparent lack of a motion, of a showing, and of excusable neglect -- to admit the affidavits at issue here. But the proposition that it was compelled to receive them -- that it was an abuse of discretion to reject them -- cannot be accepted.
"to provide adequate information and opportunities for public participation with respect to the Land Withdrawal Review Program."
Id. at 194a. The District Court found this affidavit insufficient to establish respondent's right to seek judicial review, since it was "conclusory and completely devoid of specific facts." 699 F.Supp. at 330. The Court of Appeals, having reversed the District Court on the grounds discussed above, did not address the issue.
We agree with the District Court's disposition. Even assuming that the affidavit set forth "specific facts," Fed.R.Civ.P.
"NWF's ability to meet these obligations to its members has been significantly impaired by the failure of the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of the Interior to provide adequate information and opportunities for public participation with respect to the Land Withdrawal Review Program. These interests of NWF have been injured by the actions of the Bureau and the Department, and would be irreparably harmed by the continued failure to provide meaningful opportunities for public input and access to information regarding the Land Withdrawal Review Program."
App. to Pet. for Cert.194a. As is evident, this is even more deficient than the Peterson and Erman affidavits, which contained geographical descriptions whereby at least an action as general as a particular classification decision could be identified as the source of the grievance. As we discussed earlier, the "land withdrawal review program" is not an identifiable action or event. With regard to alleged deficiencies in providing information and permitting public participation, as with regard to the other illegalities alleged in the complaint, respondent cannot demand a general judicial review of the BLM's day-to-day operations. The Greenwalt affidavit, like the others, does not set forth the specific facts necessary to survive a Rule 56 motion.
As an additional basis for its conclusion, the Court of Appeals held that the earlier panel's finding that the Peterson and Erman affidavits were sufficient to establish respondent's right to sue was the "law of the case." We do not address this conclusion, as the earlier panel's ruling does not, of course, bind this Court. Messenger v. Anderson, 225 U. S. 436, 225 U. S. 444 (1912).
Contrary to the apparent understanding of the dissent, we do not contend that no "land withdrawal review program" exists, any more than we would contend that no weapons procurement program exists. We merely assert that it is not an identifiable "final agency action" for purposes of the APA. If there is, in fact, some specific order or regulation applying some particular measure across the board to all individual classification terminations and withdrawal revocations, and if that order or regulation is final and has become ripe for review in the manner we discuss subsequently in text, it can of course be challenged under the APA by a person adversely affected -- and the entire "land withdrawal review program," insofar as the content of that particular action is concerned, would thereby be affected. But that is quite different from permitting a generic challenge to all aspects of the "land withdrawal review program," as though that itself constituted a final agency action.
Under the Secretary's regulations, any person seeking to conduct mining operations that will "cause a cumulative surface disturbance" of five acres or more must first obtain approval of a plan of operations. 43 CFR § 3809.1-4 (1988). Mining operations that cause surface disturbance of less than 5 acres do not require prior approval, but prior notice must be given to the district office of the BLM. § 3809.1-3. Neither approval nor notification is required only with respect to "casual use operations," § 3809.1-2, defined as "activities ordinarily resulting in only negligible disturbance of the Federal lands and resources," § 3809.0-5. (Activities are considered "casual" if "they do not involve the use of mechanized earth moving equipment or explosives or do not involve the use of motorized vehicles in areas designated as closed to off-road vehicles. . . ." Ibid.) Thus, before any mining use ordinarily involving more than "negligible disturbance" can take place, there must occur either agency action in response to a submitted plan or agency inaction in response to a submitted notice.
"The lands may be subject to another withdrawal of comparable scope, or they may be subject to classification segregations tantamount to such a withdrawal. In that case, the lands would not be opened to the operation of the public land laws, so that the removal of one of the withdrawals has no practical effect. Another reason why there may not be any change is that, before the revocation occurred, the lands may have been transferred into private ownership. Consequently, the withdrawal revocation amounts to nothing more than a paper transaction. . . . In the alternative, a revoked withdrawal may open the lands to the operation of the public land and mineral laws. . . . Some withdrawal revocations are made without prior knowledge as to what subsequent disposition may be made of the lands. After the lands are opened, they might be transferred out of federal ownership by sale, exchange, or some other discretionary mode of disposal, not anticipated when the withdrawal was revoked. These subsequent discretionary actions require separate and independent decisionmaking that, obviously, are divorced from the prior revocation decision. Environmental and other management concerns and public participation are taken into account in relation to the post-revocation decisionmaking."
Affidavit of Frank Edwards, Aug. 18, 1985, App. 61-62.
"'contrary to Congress's incorporation of the state system into the administration of the Trade Act, and an affront to the integrity and authority of the state courts.'"
477 U.S. at 477 U. S. 283, quoting Brief for Respondent in Automobile Workers, No. 84-1777, p. 16.
The dissent asserts that a footnote in respondent's reply memorandum to the District Court was a "motion" within the meaning of Rule 6(b)(2), and was so obviously so that the District Court committed reversible error in failing to construe it that way. Post at 497 U. S. 909-910, n. 10. We cannot agree. Rule 6(b) establishes a clear distinction between "requests" and "motions," and the one cannot be converted into the other without violating its provisions -- or at least cannot be converted on the basis of such lax criteria that conversion would be not only marginally permissible, but positively mandatory in the present case. Rule 6(b)(1) allows a court ("for cause shown" and "in its discretion") to grant a "request" for an extension of time, whether the request is made "with or without motion or notice," provided the request is made before the time for filing expires. After the time for filing has expired, however, the court (again "for cause shown" and "in its discretion") may extend the time only "upon motion." To treat all post-deadline "requests" as "motions" (if indeed any of them can be treated that way) would eliminate the distinction between pre-deadline and post-deadline filings that the Rule painstakingly draws. Surely the post-deadline "request," to be even permissibly treated as a "motion," must contain a high degree of formality and precision, putting the opposing party on notice that a motion is at issue, and that he therefore ought to respond. The request here had not much of either characteristic. As for formality, it was not even made in a separate filing or in a separate appearance before the court, but was contained in a single sentence at the end of the first paragraph of one of the 18 single-spaced footnotes in a 20-page memorandum of law. Our district judges must read footnotes with new care if they are to be reversed for failing to recognize motions buried in this fashion. And as for precision, the request not only did not ask for any particular extension of time (7 days, 30 days), it did not specifically ask for an extension of time at all, but merely said that respondent "should be given adequate opportunity to supplement the record." Even this, moreover, was not requested (much less moved for) unconditionally, but only "[i]f the court intends to reverse its prior ruling [regarding NWF standing]." Record, Doc. No. 294, p. 17, n. 16. We think it quite impossible to agree with the dissent that the District Judge not only might treat this request as a motion, but that he was compelled to do so.
damage to the affected lands. [Footnote 2/2] The District Court held, however, that the Federation had not adequately identified particular members who were harmed by the consequences of the Government's actions. Although two of NWF's members expressly averred that their recreational activities had been impaired, the District Court concluded that these affiants had not identified with sufficient precision the particular sites on which their injuries occurred. The majority, like the District Court, holds that the averments of Peterson and Erman were insufficiently specific to withstand a motion for summary judgment. Although these affidavits were not models of precision, I believe that they were adequate at least to create a genuine issue of fact as to the organization's injury.
actions of the Bureau and the Department."
"[o]n summary judgment, the inferences to be drawn from the underlying facts contained in [evidentiary] materials must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion,"
United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U. S. 654, 369 U. S. 655 (1962), I believe that the evidence before the District Court raised a genuine factual issue as to NWF's standing to sue.
plaintiff would lack standing. The Peterson and Erman affidavits doubtless could have been more artfully drafted, but they definitely were sufficient to withstand the federal parties' summary judgment motion.
the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action." Rule 1.
delay. Under these circumstances, I believe that the District Court's refusal to consider these submissions constituted an abuse of discretion.
"[t]he Court should bar any additional discovery on this issue because (1) it has already found that plaintiff has standing; (2) plaintiff has already produced affidavits which demonstrate standing, and therefore any additional discovery would be unreasonably cumulative, duplicative, burdensome and expensive within the meaning of Rule 26(c)(1); and (3) contrary to the government defendants' apparent theory, plaintiff need not demonstrate injury as to each and every action that is part of the program."
its members, officers, employees, agents, servants, or attorneys shall be permitted until subsequent order of this court, if any."
"provide a concrete indication that the Federation's members use specific lands covered by the agency's Program, and will be adversely affected by the agency's actions."
National Wildlife Federation v. Burford, 266 U.S.App.D.C. 241, 249, 835 F.2d 305, 313 (1987). [Footnote 2/8] The majority's statement that "a litigant is never justified in assuming that the court has made up its mind until the court expresses itself to that effect," ante at 497 U. S. 897, is therefore simply irrelevant to the present case: the District Court and the Court of Appeals repeatedly had indicated that the Federation had offered sufficient evidence of its standing.
Moore v. Florida, 703 F.2d 516, 519 (CA11 1983). [Footnote 2/11] Rule 56(c)'s requirement that a summary judgment motion be filed 10 days in advance of a scheduled hearing serves to ensure that the nonmoving party is afforded adequate notice of the motion. Similarly, the requirement that opposing affidavits be submitted prior to the day of the hearing reflects the fact that the district court may rule on the summary judgment motion at the hearing or at any time thereafter; submission of affidavits prior to that day is thus essential if the moving party is to be assured the opportunity to respond at a time when a response is meaningful. The requirement also allows the district court to establish a deadline by which time all evidence and arguments must be submitted; thereafter, the court may deliberate with the assurance that no subsequent filings will alter the terms of the dispute.
supplemental briefing had been allowed.) The affidavits, moreover, were filed well before the time when the case was to be taken under advisement. The record in this case is voluminous, currently filling six large boxes; consideration of five more affidavits would not have added significantly to the complexity of the issues before the District Court. Under these circumstances, submission of the supplemental affidavits neither disserved the purposes of the Rule nor prejudiced the federal parties in any respect.
discretion, a district court may abuse its authority by refusing to take account of equitable concerns, even where its action violates no express command. In my view, such an abuse of discretion occurred here.
In Part IV-A, ante at 497 U. S. 890-894, the majority sets forth a long and abstract discussion of the scope of relief that might have been awarded had the Federation made a sufficient showing of injury from environmental damage to a particular tract of land. Since the majority concludes in other portions of its opinion that the Federation lacks standing to challenge any of the land use decisions at issue here, it is not clear to me why the Court engages in the hypothetical inquiry contained in Part IV-A. In any event, I agree with much of the Court's discussion, at least in its general outline. The Administrative Procedure Act permits suit to be brought by any person "adversely affected or aggrieved by agency action." 5 U.S.C. § 702. In some cases the "agency action" will consist of a rule of broad applicability; and if the plaintiff prevails, the result is that the rule is invalidated, not simply that the court forbids its application to a particular individual. Under these circumstances, a single plaintiff, so long as he is injured by the rule, may obtain "programmatic" relief that affects the rights of parties not before the court. On the other hand, if a generally lawful policy is applied in an illegal manner on a particular occasion, one who is injured is not thereby entitled to challenge other applications of the rule.
of course, there is no question that a "program" exists. Everyone associated with this lawsuit recognizes that the BLM, over the past decade, has attempted to develop and implement a comprehensive scheme for the termination of classifications and withdrawals. The real issue is whether the actions and omissions that NWF contends are illegal are themselves part of a plan or policy. For example: if the agency had published a regulation stating that an environmental impact statement (EIS) should never be developed prior to the termination of a classification or withdrawal, NWF could challenge the regulation (which would constitute an "agency action"). If the reviewing court then held that the statute required a pretermination EIS, the relief (invalidation of the rule) would directly affect tracts other than the ones used by individual affiants. At the other extreme, if the applicable BLM regulation stated that an EIS must be developed, and NWF alleged that the administrator in charge of South Pass/Green Mountain had inexplicably failed to develop one, NWF should not be allowed (on the basis of the Peterson affidavit) to challenge a termination in Florida on the ground that an administrator there made the same mistake.
Prior to the District Court's entry of the preliminary injunction, 406 mining claims had been staked in the South Pass-Green Mountain area alone. App. 119. An exhibit filed by the federal parties indicated that over 7,200 claims had been filed in 12 Western States. Exh. 1 to Affidavit of Joseph Martyak (Apr. 1 1, 1986) .
"In the Green Mountain Management Unit . . . significant long-term impacts to elk and mule deer herds could occur from habitat losses caused by oil and gas activities over the next 60 years. . . . In the South Pass Management Unit, significant acreages of lodgepole pine forest and aspen conifer woodland habitat types could be disturbed, which would cause significant long-term impacts to moose and elk. . . . If gold mining activities continued to erode these high-value habitats, trout fisheries, the Lander moose herd, the beaver pond ecosystems, and the populations of many other wildlife species would suffer significant cumulative negative effects."
Draft RMP/EIS, pp. 226-228 (Exh. 3 to Defendant-Intervenors' Reply to Plaintiff's Opposition to Defendants' Motions for Stay Pending Appeal (May 14, 1986)).
"could have an adverse impact on crucial moose habitat, deer habitat, some elk habitat, and a variety of small game and bird species. Improvements at campgrounds, as well as land in the immediate vicinity, could either be damaged or destroyed. These activities could make it difficult for the BLM to manage the forest production and harvesting in the South Pass area. Historical and cultural resources which have and have not been identified could be either damaged or destroyed."
Defendant-Intervenors' Exh. 7 (attached as Appendix 1 to Plaintiff National Wildlife Federation's Statement of Points and Authorities in Support of Its Standing To Proceed (Aug. 22, 1988)).
See, e.g., May v. Department of Air Force, 777 F.2d 1012, 1016 (CA5 1985); First Commodity Traders, Inc. v. Heinold Commodities, Inc., 766 F.2d 1007, 1011 (CA7 1985); Maldonado v. Ramirez, 757 F.2d 48, 51 (CA3 1985); Galindo v. Precision American Corp., 754 F.2d 1212, 1216 (CA5 1985).
See, e.g.,App. 123-139 (Declaration of Jack Kelly).
The areas harmed or threatened by mining and associated activities may extend well beyond the precise location where mining occurs. See n. 2, supra.
"U.S. Energy Corporation has filed a mine permit application with the Bureau and Department (U.S. Energy Application, TFN 2 4/86), which includes a proposal to mine a significant portion of the federal lands which I use for recreational purposes and aesthetic enjoyment."
Id. at 355-356. The other affiants were NWF members David Doran, Merlin McColm, Stephen Blomeke, and Will Ouellette. These individuals identified termination orders that had opened to mining particular tracts of land used by the affiants for recreation and aesthetic enjoyment.
The federal parties do not concede that the supplemental affidavits established with certainty the Federation's standing; they contend that further discovery might show the affiants' allegations to be untrue. The federal parties do concede, however, that the supplemental affidavits were not facially deficient. Tr. of Oral Arg.19.
"When a motion is supported by affidavit, . . . opposing affidavits may be served not later than 1 day before the hearing, unless the court permits them to be served at some other time."
"Upon motion made after the expiration of the specified period permit the act to be done where the failure to act was the result of excusable neglect."
See 4A C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1165, p. 475 (2d ed.1987) (Rule 6(b) "gives the court extensive flexibility to modify the fixed time periods found throughout the rules, whether the enlargement is sought before or after the actual termination of the allotted time").
"the burden of establishing irreparable harm to support a request for a preliminary injunction is, if anything, at least as great as the burden of resisting a summary judgment motion on the ground that the plaintiff cannot demonstrate 'injury-in-fact.'"
"the specificity required for standing allegations to secure a preliminary injunction will normally be no less than that required on a motion for summary judgment."
266 U.S.App.D.C. at 264, 835 F.2d at 328.
"perhaps the court doesn't want to hear me argue standing, but I think it is imperative that I address that in the context of this case."
Tr. of Motions Hearing 13 (July 2, 1988).
"plaintiff heretofore, has relied on the court's previous rulings on NWF's standing. In its motion for a protective order against additional discovery, NWF argued that its standing had already been proven on the basis of the affidavits of Mr. Greenwalt, Ms. Peterson, and Mr. Erman. The court agreed, and entered the requested protective order. If the court intends to reverse its prior ruling, then NWF respectfully requests that it should be given adequate opportunity to supplement the record."
"Ms. Peterson has supplemented her affidavit to include new information regarding a mine application which has been filed by U.S. Energy Corporation that includes a proposal to mine lands within the area of South Pass/Green Mountain previously closed to mining. For the record, NWF initially was told by officials of the Bureau of Land Management that the U.S. Energy mine application did not include any lands covered by the court's preliminary injunction. Otherwise, NWF would have supplemented Ms. Peterson's affidavit earlier."
Reply Memorandum, at 12-13, n. 13.
"For the reasons stated in [the reply memorandum] at page 17, n. 16, plaintiff requests that defendant-intervenors' motion to strike be denied."
(In light of this separate submission, addressed solely to the question whether the supplemental affidavits should be considered, and expressly referring to n. 16 of the reply memorandum, it is difficult to fathom the Court's assertion that NWF's request was "buried" in the Federation's filings. See ante at 497 U. S. 896-897, n. 5.) This separate filing, in conjunction with the reply memorandum, satisfied Rule 6(b)'s requirement that the request for enlargement of time be made "upon motion." Though neither of these filings was expressly denominated a "motion," they met the requirements of Rule 7(b): they were submitted in writing, were signed by counsel, "state[d] with particularity the grounds therefor," and unambiguously "set forth the relief . . . sought." See Campos v. LeFevre, 825 F.2d 671, 676 (CA2 1987) ("[N]o particular form of words is necessary to render a filing a motion.' Any submission signed by a party that may fairly be read as a request to the district court to exercise its discretionary powers . . . should suffice"), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1014 (1988); Smith v. Danyo, 585 F.2d 83, 86 (CA3 1978) ("Rule 7(b) requires no more than that . . . a motion `state with particularity the grounds' upon which it is based. Plainly, an affidavit which is filed to obtain an order disqualifying a judge satisfies the requirements of Rule 7(b). . . . The . . . failure to type in the word `motion' above the word `affidavit' in no way detracts from the notice which the affidavit gave of the nature of the application"). Cf. Snyder v. Smith, 736 F.2d 409, 419 (CA7) ("The Federal Rules are to be construed liberally, so that erroneous nomenclature in a motion does not bind a party at his peril"), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1037 (1984); Miller v. Transamerican Press, Inc., 709 F.2d 524, 527 (CA9 1983) ("The court will construe [a motion], however styled, to be the type proper for the relief requested"); 2A J. Moore & J. Lucas, Moore's Federal Practice ¦ 7.05, pp. 7-16 to 7-17 (1989) ("[I]t is the motion's substance, and not merely its linguistic form, that determines its nature and legal effect").
Accord, Allied Chemical Corp. v. Mackay, 695 F.2d 854, 856 (CA5 1983) ("Rule 56(c) does not require an oral hearing in open court. Rather, it contemplates notice to the party opposing the motion and an adequate opportunity to respond to the movant's arguments"); Bratt v. International Business Machines Corp., 785 F.2d 352, 363 (CA1 1986).
The District Court subsequently established a schedule for the supplemental briefing. NWF was requested to file its opening memorandum by August 22, 1988; the Government and intervenors were to file memoranda in opposition by September 1; and NWF's reply was due by September 14. Order of July 27, 1988.
"Plaintiff, in addition to its memorandum filed August 22, 1988, has submitted additional evidentiary material, including declarations from four of its members. These submissions are untimely, and in violation of our Order. We decline to consider them. See Federal Defendants' Reply to Plaintiff's Statement of Points and Authorities in Support of Its Standing to Proceed, at 1 n. 1."
National Wildlife Federation v. Burford, 699 F.Supp. 327, 328-329, n. 3 (DC 1988).
"may not extend the time for taking any action under Rules 50(b) and (c)(2), 52(b), 59(b), (d) and (e), 60(b), and 74(a), except to the extent and under the conditions stated in them."
The term "withdrawal review program" repeatedly has been used in BLM documents. See, e.g., Plaintiff's Exhs. 1, 3, 10, 11, 15, 18, 19 (filed July 15, 1985). At oral argument on the cross-motions for summary judgment, counsel for the federal parties acknowledged: "It is true, BLM referred to this review process as a land withdrawal review program." Tr. of Motion Hearing 40 (July 22, 1988). Counsel went on to say, "but I suggest that using a word, calling it a program, doesn't make a program in the sense that it is being challenged here." Ibid. That assertion, though inelegant, seems essentially correct: an agency's terminology is not decisive in determining whether an alleged illegality is systemic or site-specific.
"The Federation offers no explanation why, despite its detailed knowledge of BLM's revocation and termination activities, it has waited so long to institute litigation."
Defendants' Memorandum in Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction 26 (Aug. 22, 1985).
I also decline to address the adequacy of the affidavit submitted by Lynn Greenwalt, since the Court of Appeals did not pass on that issue.

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