Opinion ID: 6972211
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Requirements for Standing Under the APA

Text: To establish their standing to bring this suit under the APA, County and City must show that there has been final agency action which adversely affected them, and that their injury falls within the zone of interests protected by the section of NEPA they claim was violated. See 5 U.S.C. § 702; Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation, 497 U.S. 871, 882-83, 110 S.Ct. 3177, 111 L.Ed.2d 695 (1990). County and City have met this test. The FWS has effectuated a final agency action by producing its Record of Decision announcing that it would begin purchasing fifty-five thousand acre feet of water within the Carson Division for transfer to wetlands. The Record of Decision and the FEIS fi’om the Interior clearly identified a significant amount of land within Churchill County and near the City of Fallon as land to be purchased by the government at some time. Land purchases have already started. Thus, the Record of Decision represents the “consummation” of the FWS’s decisionmaking process and has determined the various actors’ rights and obligations. Bennett v. Spear, 520 U.S. 154, 117 S.Ct. 1154, 1168, 137 L.Ed.2d 281 (1997). In addition, County’s and City’s threatened land interests fall within the zone of interests of NEPA. We have previously held that the protection of the environment falls within NEPA’s zone of interests. See Douglas County, 48 F.3d at 1501. Appellants assert that the environmental health of their lands and water supply is threatened by Defendants’ action. Their threatened interest falls within NEPA’s interest in preventing harm to the environment. County and City have established their standing to bring this suit under the APA. In conclusion, County and City have each established their standing to bring this suit against Defendants. We therefore reverse the district court’s summary judgment against County and City.