Opinion ID: 807161
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether an ITS Was Required

Text: As a preliminary matter, the Service and Association assert that the agency was not required to issue an ITS in this case. The Service, citing Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 273 F.3d 1229, 1243 (9th Cir. 2001), argues that an ITS need not have accompanied the BiOp for the Chukchi Sea incidental take regulations because it was not “reasonably certain” that take would occur until the Service issued LOAs. The Service states that it issued an ITS along with the BiOp in this case “out of an abundance of caution.” This argument fails for at least two reasons. First, Arizona Cattle Growers is inapposite. We held in that case that the Service could not attach binding conditions on permittees via an ITS where no listed species were present in the area and thus the agency “ha[d] no rational basis to conclude that a take will occur incident to the otherwise lawful activity.” 273 F.3d at 1242-44. Here, threatened polar bears are present in the Chukchi Sea area, and the oil and gas exploration activities are reasonably certain to result in at least some nonlethal harassment. Indeed, that is the very purpose of issuing incidental take regulations under the MMPA. CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY v. SALAZAR 9547 Second, the Evans court considered and rejected a similar argument that NMFS did not have to prepare an ITS along with its BiOp for incidental take regulations until it issued LOAs. 279 F. Supp. 2d at 1182-83. That court noted that the ITS provision in Section 7(b)(4) of the ESA specifically references Section 101(a)(5) of the MMPA, rather than the MMPA implementing regulations referring to LOAs, and thus “clearly contemplates the promulgation of a Final Rule, not letters of authorization,” as the trigger for producing an ITS. Id. at 1182. We agree with this reasoning. The Association argues further that an ITS was not required in this case because the ESA Section 9 take prohibitions do not apply here. The Section 9 prohibitions apply expressly to endangered, rather than threatened, species. 16 U.S.C. § 1538(a)(1)(B). For threatened species like the polar bear, Section 4(d) provides that the Service or NMFS shall promulgate regulations that they deem “necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of such species,” including, possibly, applying some or all of the Section 9 prohibitions to the threatened species. Id. § 1533(d); see also id. § 1538(a)(1)(G) (making it unlawful for any person to violate regulations promulgated under Section 4(d) for threatened species). When the Service listed the polar bear as threatened in 2008, it issued a Section 4(d) rule that applied most of the Section 9 prohibitions to the polar bear. 73 Fed. Reg. 28,306, 28,306 (May 15, 2008) (interim final rule); 50 C.F.R. § 17.40(q)(1). However, because the Service concluded that MMPA restrictions are at least as protective as those under the ESA, it exempted from those prohibitions “any activity conducted in a manner that is consistent with the requirements of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.” 50 C.F.R. § 17.40(q)(2). Accordingly, the ITS accompanying the BiOp for the Chukchi Sea regulations notes that “the activities covered by this consultation are exempt from any take prohibitions that might otherwise apply under the ESA.” [8] Plaintiffs contend that exemption from Section 9 take liability is irrelevant to the Service’s Section 7 obligations to 9548 CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY v. SALAZAR prepare a BiOp and ITS. We agree. The ESA requires an ITS for “the taking of an endangered species or a threatened species incidental to the agency action,” 16 U.S.C. § 1536(b)(4)(B) (emphasis added), not the prohibited taking. The polar bear Section 4(d) rule expressly states that “[n]othing in this special rule affects the issuance or contents of the biological opinions for polar bears or the issuance of an incidental take statement, although incidental take resulting from activities that occur outside of the current range of the polar bear is not subject to the taking prohibition of the ESA.” 73 Fed. Reg. at 76,252. The Association’s argument fails to recognize that exemption from Section 9 take liability “is not the sole purpose of the ITS. If the amount or extent of taking specified in the ITS is exceeded, reinitiation of formal consultation is required. . . . Thus, the ITS serves as a check on the agency’s original decision that the incidental take of listed species resulting from the proposed action will not [jeopardize the continued existence of the species].” Evans, 279 F. Supp. 2d at 1182. Accordingly, exemption from Section 9 take prohibitions does not negate the separate requirement that the Service “will provide” an ITS along with its BiOp. 50 C.F.R. § 402.14(i)(1).