Opinion ID: 151425
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Adaptive Management Plan

Text: Appellants next argue that the Atlantic Rim Project's mitigation measures, and specifically its adaptive management plan, violate NEPA's mandate to discuss possible mitigation measures in its EIS and Record of Decision. See 40 C.F.R. §§ 1508.25(b)(3), 1502.14(f), 1502.16(h), 1505.2(c); see also supra at 503-04. They also claim that the adaptive management plan violates NEPA's requirement to evaluate environmental impacts before actions are taken. See 40 C.F.R. § 1500.1(b) (explaining that the purpose of NEPA's procedures is to make information available before decisions are made). Again, we reject both arguments. According to Appellants, the Atlantic Rim Project's adaptive management plan is the lynchpin of the project's mitigation and monitoring efforts. They argue this court therefore should look only at the adaptive management plan to determine whether the Bureau satisfied the requirements of NEPA. This argument misunderstands the requirements of NEPA. Nothing in that act or its implementing regulations restricts a court's review to only the primary mitigation effort in a project rather than the project's entire response. We will not restrict our analysis to the adaptive management plan alone. The Atlantic Rim Project's Record of Decision and EIS contemplate several mitigation techniques. As described above, supra at 505-06, surface disturbance is limited to 7600 acres at any time, and 13,600 acres over the life of the project. ROD at B-4. Disturbance is also limited to certain areas to protect wildlife and plant species. For example, to mitigate disturbance of the greater sage grouse, surface disturbance or occupancy is completely prohibited within one-quarter mile of occupied sage grouse breeding grounds, and within two miles of those grounds during the breeding season between March 1 and July 15. FEIS at 3-96, E-7. Permanent high-profile structures are limited within one mile of sage grouse breeding grounds. Id. at E-7. Generator noise must be muffled in order to minimize disturbance to mating calls. Id. See also NRDC, 525 F.Supp.2d at 121-22 (outlining these and other measures protective of sage grouse). The project's adaptive management plan endeavors to monitor the development's effects on the environment and mitigate those effects as necessary. The plan outlines various performance goals for the Bureau to strive for in collaboration with other state and federal agencies. ROD at 19. For example, the Bureau will attempt to maintain functional migration routes, provide an adequate amount of suitable, undisturbed crucial winter range for big game animals, provide well-dispersed sage-grouse habitats, maintain adequate water quality for sensitive populations of fish, and minimize deaths and injuries of livestock due to development. Id. The wildlife monitoring and protection measures developed to fulfill these goals are not fixed, but flexible. The Bureau may modify them as allowable and as deemed appropriate by BLM in consultation with other agencies, [well] Operators and interested parties. ROD at B-15 (speaking specifically of wildlife protection measures); see id. at E-1, E-3 (explaining that mitigation measures will be evaluated annually or more frequently, and the monitoring plan may be modified annually as necessary). The adaptive management plan relies on a review team that includes representatives from the Bureau and other interested parties. This team will develop specific quantifiable criteria to evaluate the project's adherence with the adaptive management performance goals. ROD at 3. The plan specifies a short-term disturbance goal for each well of no more than 6.5 acres and less in areas with sensitive populations or crucial or unique habitats. Id. at 12. The Record of Decision also discusses adapting monitoring efforts in response to observed trends, and outlines how funding will be obtained for said monitoring. Id. at 20. While the exact application of mitigation measures will be determined on a site-specific basis, the adaptive management plan also incorporates a detailed, thirteen-page list of specific protective measures that the review team is to consider for each drill plan. Id. at 21 (referencing FEIS App'x L). Those measures include requiring operators to surround the areas around drill pads with hay or mulch to reduce hillslope erosion, FEIS at L-2, erecting signs near livestock pastures and corrals to warn vehicle operators, id. at L-4, limiting short-term surface disturbance around sage grouse and Columbian sharp-tailed grouse habitats and big game crucial winter range, id. at L-4, and measures developed specifically for certain regions within the Atlantic Rim Project Area, id. at L-6-L-13. The list also provides reasons and explanations for all of the suggested measures. As this description shows, the Atlantic Rim Project's EIS and Record of Decision outlined relatively detailed mitigation measures. In addition, these details were accompanied by discussions of environmental studies supporting the Bureau's decisions. See, e.g., FEIS at 5-17-5-18 (citing external studies about the protection required for sage grouse habitats, along with the Bureau's own data about the number of sage grouse habitats in the Atlantic Rim Project Area and how many would be affected by the proposed development). We agree with the district court that although the plaintiffs are dissatisfied with the level of protection provided under the current mitigation plan, the record clearly reflects that BLM analyzed and considered various alternatives and put in place measures far more stringent than those included in the original proposal. TRCP, 605 F.Supp.2d at 275 (quoting NRDC, 525 F.Supp.2d at 122). By setting forth both fixed mitigation measures and an adaptive management plan, the Record of Decision amply fulfills NEPA's mandate to discuss mitigation measures. We can require no more. See Vermont Yankee, 435 U.S. at 525, 98 S.Ct. 1197. Nor did the adaptive management plan violate NEPA's requirement to take a hard look at environmental impacts before actions are taken. See 40 C.F.R. § 1500.1(b). The procedural requirements of NEPA do not force agencies to make detailed, unchangeable mitigation plans for long-term development projects. Through the adaptive management plan, the Bureau plans to monitor the real effects of the development it authorizes, and adapt its mitigation measures to specific drilling proposals in response to trends observed. Allowing adaptable mitigation measures is a responsible decision in light of the inherent uncertainty of environmental impacts, not a violation of NEPA. It is certainly not arbitrary or capricious. Appellants also argue the district court abused its discretion in excluding extra-record evidence regarding the adaptive management plan. Some of the excluded evidence allegedly supported Appellants' argument that a similar adaptive management plan in another project area was unworkable. As we discussed above, supra at 514-15, a court generally restricts its review to the administrative record. The district court did not abuse its discretion in maintaining that default position for the evidence in question. As with the wind project evidence, see supra at 515, the proper time for Appellants to introduce this evidence would have been in the notice and comment period before the agency, not before the district court. The district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding that evidence. Appellants also sought to introduce a letter from the Bureau that allegedly showed that the Bureau was not actually implementing the Atlantic Rim adaptive management plan as outlined in the Record of Decision. Appellants' Br. at 55 (citing Letter from R. Bennett to T. Wilmoth (May 13, 2008)). In a subsequent mailing, however, the Bureau told Appellants that the statement in question was a mistake and that the process had already begun at the time of the first letter. The Bureau provided Appellants documentation for this contention. Given the Bureau's convincing and unrebutted explanation for the statement in its first letter, the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to consider this evidence either.