Opinion ID: 148933
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to Take a Hard Look at Cultural and Environmental Impacts

Text: Plaintiffs argue that the BLM failed to take a hard look at the Amendment's effectsspecifically, effects on Western Shoshone cultural resourcesbecause it approved all three phases of the Amendment without knowing the precise locations of the project's activities, such as drill sites, access roads, and support facilities. Plaintiffs contend that, without these details, the BLM neither conducted a hard look analysis of the project, nor adequately informed the public of the potential impacts of the project, as NEPA requires. The BLM and Cortez argue that, in light of the exploratory nature of the project, the BLM's analysis and decision comply with NEPA. They argue that the BLM sufficiently analyzed the potential impact that the project could have and imposed avoidance and mitigation measures that account for any unpredictable impacts on cultural resources. Although we have not previously reviewed the BLM's approval of a phased exploration project, the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) reviewed a similar NEPA challenge to a phased exploration project in Great Basin Mine Watch, 159 IBLA 324 (2003). [9] Similar to the situation here, in Great Basin Mine Watch, a mining company submitted to the BLM a proposal to expand an earlier exploration project. The proposed expansion would disturb an additional 95.55 acres of land for a total of 100 acres, within a 3,336-acre project area. Id. at 327, 331. The BLM analyzed the proposed amendment without specific details regarding the location of the Phase II and III operations. Id. at 327. The IBLA determined that the BLM's failure to include details for phases other than the first phase of the project did not violate NEPA, because BLM compensate[d] for the omission of precise sites for future activities by analyzing the impacts of approximately 95.55 acres of additional surface disturbance anywhere within the project area and imposing resource-specific stipulations and mitigation measures for all activities throughout the entire project area. Id. at 354. We agree with the IBLA that the BLM, in some cases, may adapt its assessment of environmental impacts when the specific locations of an exploration project's activities cannot reasonably be ascertained until some time after the project is approved. NEPA's ultimate focus is on the assessment of environmental impacts and a project's details are usually a means to that end. An exploration project, however, inherently involves uncertainties; if mining companies knew the precise location of mineral deposits before drilling, exploration would not be required. In approving mineral exploration projects, the BLM must balance these uncertainties with its duty under NEPA to analyze possible environmental impacts. The IBLA's approach in Great Basin Mine Watch strikes an appropriate balance by holding that the BLM may approve an exploration project without knowing the exact locations of drill sites and other project activities. In order to do so, the BLM must analyze the impact of drilling activities in all parts of the project area and impose effective avoidance and mitigation measures to account for unknown impacts. We recognize that in Great Basin Mine Watch, unlike here, the mining company provided the BLM with access road and drill site locations for Phase I. See 159 IBLA at 347. We do not believe, however, that this deficiency renders the BLM's approval of the Amendment unreasonable. Phase I exploration activities, like those for Phases II and III, are uncertain by design because Cortez must adjust the location of drilling throughout the course of Phase I. Here, as in Great Basin Mine Watch, the BLM was provided with dimensions of drill sites and access roads, the methods used to construct them, and the total surface disturbance area that would result from the Amendment. With this information, the BLM assessed the potential impacts from all three phases that might occur throughout the project area. Additionally, as in Great Basin Mine Watch, the BLM imposed effective avoidance and mitigation measures to protect Western Shoshone cultural resources from impacts resulting from all three phases of the Amendment. In the modified DR/FONSI, the BLM State director outlined these measures, which prevent Cortez from disturbing land in exclusion zones around PCRIs that are eligible for inclusion on the National Register unless later authorized to do so by the BLM. Accordingly, before beginning exploration activities, Cortez must submit 1:24,000 scale maps of the areas to be disturbed. Cortez may start exploration activities only if past surveys show that no cultural resources are in the area. If the BLM determines that a Class III cultural resources survey is needed, an archaeologist and a Native American observer will survey the land and make recommendations. [10] If Cortez finds previously undiscovered cultural resources while conducting exploration activities, it must cease activities within 100 meters of the discovery until the BLM determines whether or not the site is eligible for the National Register and should thus be protected by an exclusion zone. The BLM will delineate exclusion zones to surround any newly discovered sites that might be eligible for inclusion on the National Register. These measures compensate for Cortez's inability to identify the locations of drill sites and related activities for Phases I through III before beginning exploration activities, provide for phased assessment of areas not yet surveyed for cultural resources at a Class III level, and permit the BLM to protect cultural resources when so required by law. We therefore conclude that the BLM did not violate NEPA by approving the Amendment without knowing the precise locations of drill sites, access roads, and other project activities for Phases I through III.