Opinion ID: 458564
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Corps' Cumulative-Impacts Analysis

Text: 107 Our extensive review of the administrative record reveals that the Corps did not generate a study or report specifically addressing cumulative impacts. Given the CEQ regulations, it seems to us that a meaningful cumulative-effects study must identify: (1) the area in which effects of the proposed project will be felt; (2) the impacts that are expected in that area from the proposed project; (3) other actions--past, proposed, and reasonably foreseeable--that have had or are expected to have impacts in the same area; (4) the impacts or expected impacts from these other actions; and (5) the overall impact that can be expected if the individual impacts are allowed to accumulate. See Cabinet Mountains Wilderness/Scotchman's Peak Grizzly Bears v. Peterson, 685 F.2d 678, 683-84 (D.C.Cir.1982). 15 There is no study in the record, prepared by the Corps or by Mitchell's consultants, that approximates this kind of analysis and, as we have seen, the discussion in the EA is vague and conclusory. 108 We note that the Corps did submit to the district court Laubscher's affidavit, in which he states: 109 In reviewing [Mitchell's] application for [an amended permit for Section 6], I took into consideration all previously issued permits for West Galveston Island and West Bay to analyze potential cumulative effects. Therefore, in making my public interest review, I carefully examined the environment of West Bay for cumulative impacts. I determined that the Pirates Cove development has independent utility, and will not encourage or support other related development. 110 This smacks of post hoc rationalization, for there is no study in the record to support this claim. At any rate, it still reflects a focus that, under the CEQ regulation, is too narrow. As we have seen, actions should be considered in the threshold cumulative-impacts analysis without regard to whether they have themselves required a permit or will in the future be the subject of NEPA review. 111 Mitchell's brief, moreover, argues generally for pages that the Corps adequately considered cumulative impacts. When it comes to record citations, however, the discussion is limited to quotations from the EA and the following summary of the Corps' cumulative-impacts analysis: 112 The trial court's holding also ignores that the reasoning process that led the Corps to conclude specifically that [cumulative effects are insignificant] is well supported in the record. For example, with respect to salt water wetlands, the Corps noted that while consuming .13 acres of salt water wetlands, the proposed project creates nine acres of these wetlands in compensation. Moreover, the Corps found that the creation of salt water wetlands is a viable means of off-setting adverse impacts to an estuary. The Corps assessed the effect of the loss of these wetlands and the adjacent uplands on surrounding areas of West Bay, and concluded that the effect would be insignificant. With respect to freshwater wetlands, the Corps noted that of the 15 acres on-site, all but 1.2 acres would be filled during development. After assessing the biological significance of these areas, however, the Corps concluded that the preservation of the 1.2 acre reserve allows the area to continue to serve its most important biological functions after construction. 113 Mitchell's Brief at 15-16 (record citations omitted). 114 This discussion of the record fails to show an adequate consideration of cumulative impacts. It is true, as the defendants have argued in the past, that an impact can be cumulative and at the same time [be] a direct or indirect impact. Defendants' Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment at 38. Said the defendants: [T]he taking of wetland acreage is surely the direct impact of a permit allowing the taking. But if other wetland consumption is considered simultaneously the same taking becomes a cumulative impact. Id. Mitchell's reliance on the Corps' consideration of the direct and indirect effects of Section 6 to show consideration of cumulative impacts is flawed, however, because the record does not reveal the requisite concomitant inquiry into other actions with which Section 6 may share impacts. In short, there is nothing in the record to indicate that the Corps conducted the review mandated by the regulations. 115 We certainly do not mean to suggest that the consideration of cumulative impacts at the threshold stage will necessarily involve extensive study or analysis of the impacts of other actions. See Vieux Carre Property Owners, 719 F.2d at 1276-79 (finding adequate an EA that did not discuss in depth later stages of a development that had effectively been shelved). The inquiry at this point is properly limited to whether the specific proposal under consideration may have a significant impact. The EA must however, at a minimum, show that the Corps considered impacts from those actions listed in the regulation: other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions regardless of what agency (Federal or non-Federal), or person undertakes such other actions. 40 C.F.R. Sec. 1508.7. The extent of the analysis will necessarily depend on the scope of the area in which the impacts from the proposed action will be felt and the extent of other activity in that area. Because of the unique and fragile nature of wetland areas, this is undoubtedly an unusual case. Cf. 33 C.F.R. Sec. 320.4(b)(3) (Thus, the particular wetland site for which an application is made will be evaluated with the recognition that it may be part of a complete and interrelated wetland area.). 116 The district court found that Section 6 is clearly related to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable developments on west Galveston Island. 592 F.Supp. at 125. When that finding is properly analyzed in terms of the CEQ-threshold regulations, as opposed to the scoping regulations, it is not clearly erroneous. The district court based that finding on three aspects of the record: (1) Mitchell's suggestion that the project may be expanded; (2) NMFS' view that the impacts of venetian-style developments on West Galveston Island have cumulative effects on the same ecosystem; and (3) USFWS' view that development in West Galveston wetland areas has cumulative effects on the same ecosystem. We agree with the defendants that these views do not by themselves show that Section 6 may have a significant impact on the environment. We think, however, that they amply support the district court's finding that Section 6 is related to other actions on West Galveston Island. We note, moreover, that the plaintiffs submitted additional scientific evidence, at the preliminary injunction hearing and by affidavit, to show that Section 6 is related, in the sense that it may affect the same estuarine environment, to other actions on West Galveston Island. The Corps itself apparently agrees, as demonstrated by Laubscher's affidavit, in which he indicates that the correct focus of a cumulative-impacts analysis of Section 6 is West Bay. 117 The record, moreover, is replete with evidence of other actions on West Galveston Island--past, present, proposed and future--that may affect the same area that Section 6 will affect. Significant among these are the annexation by the city of parts of West Galveston Island and the creation of a tax zone with development incentives and the Corps' granting of permits to Homecraft for a large housing development on far West Galveston Island. At various times during the administrative process, the Corps' attention was drawn to many other actions on the island that, in the view of experts and ordinary citizens alike, should be included in a cumulative-impacts analysis. Admittedly, much of the evidence is conclusory. It is not clear, for example, which, if any, of these actions are actually proposals. That, however, is precisely why, in our view, further study is required. 118 We stress the narrow scope of our holding. We are not saying that any of these actions is related to Section 6 in a manner that compels preparation of a comprehensive EIS. As Kleppe makes clear, only those that have reached the proposal stage could possibly be so. We are not saying that the existence of these actions necessarily means that Section 6 may significantly affect the environment. We are saying, however, that we agree with the district court that, given this evidence, it was unreasonable for the Corps to make a FONSI without taking a hard look at the existence of these actions. The EA's cryptic analysis of cumulative effects, bottomed as it is on improper criteria, is insufficient. 119 In sum, while we agree that the Corps' analysis of cumulative impacts is inadequate, we do not read the district court's opinion to find that, because of cumulative impacts, Section 6 may have a significant impact on the human environment. Indeed, we think, precisely because the Corps' analysis is incomplete, that it is too early to make that determination. Whether Section 6 may have a significant impact is an open question. York, 761 F.2d at 1053.