Opinion ID: 740566
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: small letter claims

Text: 39 The Service issues two types of special use permits to telecommunications operators. A single-user permit authorizes the holder to operate its own facility or to conduct its operations from another permit-holder's facility. A multi-user or facility manager permit authorizes the permit holder to lease space to other operators at its facility. Multiple users may occupy a single communications facility under either type of permit. The difference lies in the fee structure: each single-user permitee pays a permit fee to the Service, whereas only the holder of a multi-user permit, the facility manager, pays a fee to the Service and tenant users pay a fee directly to the permit holder. In either the single-user or multi-user permit situation, the facility owner may charge rent to tenant operators. Neither the NFMA nor the Service's regulations expressly provides for these two types of permits. 40 On November 5, 1993, Gordon Small, the Service's Director of Lands, issued a letter directing all local units of the Service to discontinue issuing multi-user special use permits for communications sites until the Service established consistent fee structures and permit designs. On October 27, 1995, the Service published a final fee schedule for communications uses on national forest lands. 60 Fed.Reg. 55090 (Oct. 27, 1995). 41 Western challenges the Service's application of the Small letter's direction to Western's permit request. Western claims that the letter acts as a substantive rule and alters an existing regulatory scheme without undergoing notice and comment procedures, see Mt. Diablo Hosp. Dist. v. Bowen, 860 F.2d 951, 956 (9th Cir.1988), and that Western has been injured by the Service's reliance on the letter to bar it from obtaining a multi-user permit. 42 We have difficulty accepting Western's argument that the Small letter has substantive regulatory effect, considering that neither statute nor regulation governs the Service's issuance of single-user versus multi-user permits and that the fee structure for special use permits lies within the Service's discretion. 36 C.F.R. § 251.57. Western acknowledges that the Small letter merely postponed issuance of multi-user permits, but argues that the Service interpreted the letter to bar such permits. Even if Western's arguments are accurate, Western's challenge to the Small letter is moot. 43 The Service did not actually grant or deny Western's permit application in reliance on the Small letter, since the Service has not finally acted on Western's application. The Small letter has been superseded by a published fee schedule, which does authorize multi-user permits. See 60 Fed.Reg. at 55102. The Small letter therefore has no current effect or continuing consequences, and Western's challenge to it is moot. See Schering Corp. v. Shalala, 995 F.2d 1103, 1105-06 (D.C.Cir.1993) (holding that FDA letter had no current operative effect and cannot govern future agency actions and that claims resting on that letter were moot).VI. CONCLUSION 44 The Service granted Cellular One a special use permit after following the required procedures; its decision was not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the applicable law. The Ashbacker doctrine does not apply to the Service's special use permit decisions. Western's Small letter claims are moot. We therefore AFFIRM the district court's decision granting summary judgment to the Service.