Opinion ID: 178946
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Forest Service Responses to Earth Island's Comments

Text: Earth Island contends that the district court abused its discretion in finding that the Forest Service adequately responded to the dissenting scientific comments submitted by Earth Island's scientists during the RFEIS comment period. In particular, Earth Island alleges that the Forest Service responded in an impermissibly generalized manner and that the RFEIS did not address certain specific comments by Earth Island's experts, Mr. Rhodes and Dr. Royce. Under NEPA, agencies must ensure the scientific integrity of the discussions and analyses in their environmental impact statements. 40 C.F.R. § 1502.24. In doing so, they must discuss at appropriate points in the final statement any responsible opposing view which was not adequately discussed in the draft statement and shall indicate the agency's response to the issues raised. 40 C.F.R. § 1502.9(b). However, agencies have broad discretion in choosing how to respond to opposing scientific evidence. 40 C.F.R. § 1503.4. Nonetheless, the EIS must respond explicitly and directly to conflicting views in order to satisfy NEPA's procedural requirements. Earth Island II, 442 F.3d at 1172. That being said, an agency need not respond to every single scientific study or comment. Castaneda, 574 F.3d at 668. First, the district court cited to numerous instances in the RFEIS where the Forest Service responded in detail to the specific comments raised by Earth Island. For example, the court found that the Service commented on the adequacy of the roadside hazard tree guidelines, the alleged improper markings of hazard trees, the impact on woodpeckers and their habitat, and the impact of logging on post-fire soils and watersheds. Thus, Earth Island's contention that the Service only responded in a generalized manner is factually incorrect. The district court did not abuse its discretion in so finding. Second, the Forest Service responded extensively to the comments by both Mr. Rhodes and Dr. Royce. The Forest Service responded to Mr. Rhodes' comments on ground cover loss and landing sites for helicopter and skyline logging in both the body of the FREIS and in the Appendix. Mr. Rhodes disagrees with the Forest Service's scientific findings, but that disagreement does not render the Forest Service's review and comment process improper. [N]one of NEPA's statutory provisions or regulations requires the Forest Service to affirmatively present every uncertainty in its EIS.... After all, to require the Forest Service to [do so] would be an onerous requirement, given that experts in every scientific field routinely disagree.... See McNair, 537 F.3d at 1001. The district court here found just such a battle of the experts to exist, but concluded that this did not establish a violation of NEPA. It was within its authority to do so. Similarly, the RFEIS responded in detail to Dr. Royce's comments on the roadside hazard tree guidelines. For example, the RFEIS discussed the environmental effects of roadside hazard tree removal and explained why the Forest Service guidelines are consistent with scientific recommendations regarding fire-injured trees. The RFEIS also discusses a concern raised by an Earth Island expert regarding assumptions about the likely fall rates of burned trees. In short, the RFEIS took the required hard look at the determination of which trees were hazardous to road travelers. The Forest Service responded in a sufficiently detailed manner to the range of comments submitted. NEPA requires no more. McNair, 537 F.3d at 1000, 1003. Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the Forest Service met its comment period obligations.