Opinion ID: 3046719
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Listing Petitions and Agency Response

Text: The ESA provides a mechanism by which interested persons may petition the Secretary of the Interior for the listing of species as either endangered or threatened. 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(3)(A); 50 C.F.R. § 424.14(a). In the normal course, upon receipt of a petition, the FWS has 90 days to make a finding as to whether the petition presents substantial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(3)(A); 50 C.F.R. § 424.14(b). If the FWS concludes that the action may be warranted, then within 12 months after receiving the petition, it must make one of the following findings: (1) that the action is not warranted; (2) that the action is warranted; or (3) that the action is “warranted but precluded” by other higher priority listing actions. 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(3)(B); 50 C.F.R. § 424.14(b)(3). In addition to the normal listing mechanism, the FWS is also authorized to list a species immediately in case of an “emergency posing a significant risk to the well-being of [that] species.” 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(7).2 It is the position of the FWS, a position with 2 The full text of the emergency provision is as follows: Neither paragraph (4), (5), or (6) of this subsection nor section 553 of Title 5 shall apply to any regulation issued by the Secretary in regard to any 4 which the District Court agreed, that this emergency provision is committed solely to the discretion of the FWS and is not reviewable under the so-called discretion exemption to the APA, 5 U.S.C. § 701(a)(2). In July and August 2005, appellants petitioned the FWS to emergency posing a significant risk to the well-being of any species of fish or wildlife or plants, but only if— (A) at the time of publication of the regulation in the Federal Register the Secretary publishes therein detailed reasons why such regulation is necessary; and (B) in the case such regulation applies to resident species of fish or wildlife, or plants, the Secretary gives actual notice of such regulation to the State agency in each State in which such species is believed to occur. Such regulation shall, at the discretion of the Secretary, take effect immediately upon the publication of the regulation in the Federal Register. Any regulation promulgated under the authority of this paragraph shall cease to have force and effect at the close of the 240-day period following the date of publication unless, during such 240-day period, the rulemaking procedures which would apply to such regulation without regard to this paragraph are complied with. If at any time after issuing an emergency regulation the Secretary determines, on the basis of the best appropriate data available to him, that substantial evidence does not exist to warrant such regulation, he shall withdraw it. 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(7). 5 list the red knot as endangered on an emergency basis. In December, the FWS replied in a two-page letter, which stated, in part: While we have not made a decision on whether the petition presents substantial information that the petitioned action may be warranted, we have looked at the immediacy of possible threats to the species to determine if emergency listing may be warranted at this time. Our initial review of your petition, and the information within our files, does not indicate that an emergency situation exists. (App. 153.) The letter also explained that several regional and state protection measures were already in place and that observed conditions during the 2005 stopover indicated a slight increase in the number of red knots. The FWS did not rule out the possibility of future listing activity, indicating that it would “review the petition in the context of a non-emergency, through [its] petition process.” (App. 154.) It anticipated making its already-belated 90day finding in early 2006. Before hearing again from the FWS regarding the red knot, appellants filed this action in the District Court, claiming, as noted above, that (1) the decision not to list the red knot on an emergency basis was arbitrary and capricious,3 and (2) the FWS failed to meet 3 According to the ESA, listing determinations must be based on “the best scientific and commercial data available.” 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(1)(A). A species is adjudged to be endangered or threatened if it meets one or more of five statutorily defined factors: (A) the present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of [the species’] habitat or range; (B) overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; (C) disease or predation; (D) the inadequacy of existing regulatory 6 its response deadlines set forth in 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(3)(A) and (B). Three months later, the FWS formally responded to the petition when, on September 12, 2006, it published its CNOR in the Federal Register. See Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Review of Native Species That Are Candidates or Proposed for Listing as Endangered or Threatened; Annual Notice of Findings on Resubmitted Petitions; Annual Description of Progress on Listing Actions, 71 Fed. Reg. 53,756 (Sept. 12, 2006) (to be codified at 50 C.F.R. pt. 17). The CNOR concluded that the threats, in particular the modification of habitat through harvesting of horseshoe crabs to such an extent that it puts the viability of the knot at substantial risk, are of a high magnitude, but are nonimminent because of reductions and restrictions on harvesting horseshoe crabs. Id. at 53,759. Accordingly, the FWS designated the listing of the red knot as warranted but precluded pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(3)(B)(iii), and assigned the species a priority level of 6 on a scale of 1 to 12 (1 being the highest priority). Id. Following publication of the CNOR, appellants voluntarily dismissed their claim pertaining to the FWS’s failure to abide by the response deadlines but did not seek leave to amend their complaint in order to challenge the warranted but precluded finding set forth in the CNOR. Thus, the only remaining claim before the District Court was that the denial of an emergency listing in mechanisms; (E) other natural or manmade factors affecting [the species’] continued existence. Id. § 1533(a)(1). Appellants claim, as they did before the District Court, that the FWS’s denial of their emergency listing requests was based on considerations that fell outside this narrow statutory framework and, therefore, was arbitrary and capricious. Given our disposition herein, we need not address this claim. 7 December 2005 was arbitrary and capricious. As noted above, the District Court concluded that the challenged action fell within the “discretion” exception to the APA, 5 U.S.C. § 701(a)(2), and dismissed appellants’ claim as unreviewable.