Opinion ID: 755346
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Untimely Consultation with the FWS

Text: 34 In addition to failing to request and follow through with a required consultation with NMFS, the Bureau also failed to follow its obligations under law with respect to its consultation with the FWS. The FWS has jurisdiction over several protected species in the Friant area, and the Bureau informally consulted with the FWS during 1990 and 1991. Formal consultation was requested on May 22, 1991. The FWS issued a no jeopardy Biological Opinion on October 15, 1991. Ten of the Friant contracts had already been executed by that time. The contracts contained Article 14, which allowed some contract modification pursuant to environmental review, and all but one of the contracts contained a provision modifying the terms dependent on the outcome of this litigation. 4 Section 7(d) of the ESA provides: 35 After initiation of consultation required under subsection (a)(2) of this section, the Federal agency and the permit or license applicant shall not make any irreversible or irretrievable commitment of resources with respect to the agency action which has the effect of foreclosing the formulation or implementation of any reasonable and prudent alternative measures which would not violate subsection (a)(2) of this section. 36 16 U.S.C. § 1536(d); see 50 C.F.R. § 402.09. The district court concluded that the 40-year water contracts constituted an irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources and that the Bureau was not permitted to proceed until FWS found that the contracts were not likely to affect a protected species. 5 See Pacific Rivers, 30 F.3d at 1056 (following discussion of § 7(a)(2) and § 7(d), court concluded that timber sales constitute per se irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources); Lane County Audubon Soc'y v. Jamison, 958 F.2d 290, 295 (9th Cir.1992). 37 The Non-federal Defendants insist that even if the water contracts are an irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources, Article 14 prevented the foreclosure of reasonable and prudent alternatives and, therefore, § 7(d) was not violated. We do not think that an agency should be permitted to skirt the procedural requirements of § 7(d) by including such a catchall savings clause in illegally executed contracts. However, even if such a clause could preserve the contracts, Article 14 is inadequate to serve that purpose here because it limits conservation-based modifications to minor adjustments and prohibits an adjustment in the amount of water delivered. Because Article 14 does not permit a reduction in the quantity of water delivered, the reasonable and prudent alternative of reallocating contracted water from irrigation to conservation is foreclosed. The district court did not err in concluding that the Bureau violated § 7(d) when it executed the contracts prior to completing the formal consultation process with the FWS, and the contracts executed prior to the issuance of the FWS Biological Opinion are subject to rescission. 6