Opinion ID: 1043675
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Appeal of Board’s August 31, 2011 Order Regarding Habitat Mitigation

Text: ¶ 56. In Docket Number 2011-366, the Towns challenge the Board’s August 31, 2011 order regarding the sufficiency of required mitigation for habitat and other environmental impacts. Condition 15(a) of the CPG required GMP to comply with all conditions and requirements set forth in the February 24, 2011 MOU between GMP and ANR. As the Board noted in its decision, ANR is the state agency charged with protecting the state’s natural resources. Among other things, ANR’s MOU required GMP to secure conservation easements on four parcels of land adjoining the project to mitigate the project’s impacts on black bear habitat and the fragmentation of the Lowell Mountain ridgeline. The Board found that without the MOU, the project “would have an undue adverse impact on natural communities and the natural environment as a result of the fragmenting effects of the project.” ¶ 57. On July 21, 2011, GMP notified the Board of its discovery that the owner of the land that was to be subject to the conservation easements had undertaken unauthorized earthwork and logging-related activities on three of the four easement parcels. In response, on August 5, 2011, ANR issued an order pursuant to 10 V.S.A. § 1272 requiring the landowner to remediate and mitigate the impacts of the activities. The order noted that GMP had agreed to be responsible for undertaking the restoration and remediation work necessary to correct the landowner’s activities. ¶ 58. On August 11, 2011, also in response to GMP’s notice, the Board issued an “Order Re Compliance with Condition 15(a)” establishing a process for determining whether GMP had complied with Condition 15(a) in light of the activities and subsequent remediation efforts on the mitigation parcels. In the compliance order, the Board noted that the Towns had requested that the Board hold a technical hearing that would include sworn testimony subject to discovery and cross-examination. The Board denied the request for a technical hearing without prejudice to the Towns renewing the motion in the future. ¶ 59. The Board acknowledged that it had relied upon the mitigation conservation easements to support its conclusion that the project would have no undue adverse impact on natural resources in the area. It further stated that it had a responsibility to see that appropriate remediation and mitigation take place on those easement parcels. It emphasized that GMP had an obligation under condition 15(a) of the CPG to comply with response requirements imposed by ANR. Considering these facts, the Board established a process for determining whether GMP’s response to the unauthorized logging-related activities was adequate. ¶ 60. The post-certification review process established in the August 11 compliance order required GMP to file a detailed report describing, among other things, the impacts of the logging activities on the easement parcels, GMP’s remediation of those impacts, and any supplemental mitigation to offset the unauthorized work performed by the landowner. The Board allowed all parties with standing on natural resource impacts, including the Towns, to file comments or make motions on GMP’s report, but stated that any party requesting the opportunity for a technical hearing must demonstrate the need for a hearing. ¶ 61. GMP filed the required report on August 17, 2011 asserting that it had appropriately and adequately addressed ANR’s requirements to remediate the work done on the parcels and detailing the remediation work it had performed. GMP also informed the Board that it had obtained conservation easements on two new parcels, totaling 172 acres, as supplemental mitigation to offset the logging. One week later, ANR submitted to the Board a letter from one of its attorneys stating that the remediation activities required by ANR’s order under 10 V.S.A. § 1272 were satisfactorily performed and that the habitation fragmentation impacts to the easement parcels were adequately offset by GMP’s conservation of the two additional parcels as supplemental mitigation. That same day, in response to ANR’s letter, the Board requested that ANR file “a complete explanation from a qualified expert” explaining how easements on the two new parcels offset fragmentation impacts resulting from the logging activities on the two original easement parcels. The Board asked ANR specifically to address how the conservation easements obtained for the new 172 acres provided habitat connectivity given their location on opposite sides of the construction site separated from the original easements. ¶ 62. The next day, August 25, ANR submitted a follow-up letter, in which its attorney summarized an explanation provided by its wildlife habitat expert, who had previously submitted testimony subject to cross-examination in the CPG proceedings before the certificate was issued. The letter stated that the new 172-acre easements obtained by GMP were not intended to provide habitat connectivity; that the fragmentation effects of the clearing activities on non-project lands were not comparable to the much larger effects of the project construction and did “not create a significant level of alteration to the Lowell Mountain habitat block.” The letter further stated that the new conservation easements were therefore not intended to serve the same function as the original mitigation easements required to offset connectivity fragmentation caused by the project construction. ¶ 63. Specifically, the ANR attorney reported the wildlife habitat expert’s opinion that: (1) the activities on the two parcels, “while viewed as temporary, are not insignificant and are not easily or quickly remedied”; (2) however, “the impact of the clearing activities are limited in scale when compared to the impact of the construction of the wind facility on the Lowell mountain ridgeline” in that “the fragmenting effects of the wind facility which are large and permanent are incomparable to the effects of [the] recent clearing and road construction”; (3) “[w]hile there is no practical way to unfragment the forest canopy” of the easement parcels, GMP had agreed to place additional restrictions on the original mitigation easements where the unauthorized work was performed and to “ensure proper stewardship of the land through new conservation easements” on the additional 172 acres; (4) regarding the habitat connectivity, the new parcels “are not intended to serve the same function as the connectivity easements required by the Natural Resources MOU”; (5) rather, the new parcels were “intended to offset the recent fragmentation” resulting from the logging activities; (6) the “landscape level” alteration resulting from construction of the wind facility was the basis for ANR’s request for connectivity easements, but the recent logging on the easement parcels “did not result in the same degree of impact to habitat connectivity nor create a significant level of alteration to the Lowell Mountain habitat block”; and (7) “when viewed in the context of the project as a whole,” permanent conservation easements on the two new parcels totaling 172 acres “provides the most realistic and reasonable means to mitigate the impact of the recent clearing, and when viewed in that context, results in greater protection for wildlife within the habitat block than originally proposed in the Board’s final order.” ¶ 64. On August 29, the Towns’ attorney filed a letter with the Board responding to ANR’s August 25 letter. The Towns asserted that neither ANR nor GMP had demonstrated that GMP’s remediation and supplemental mitigation efforts were adequate to offset impacts from the logging-related activities on the original easement parcels. According to the Towns, the Board must conclude, based on the statements made in ANR’s letter, that the logging activities caused fragmentation of the two easement parcels and that neither GMP’s remediation efforts nor its new conservation easements offset that fragmentation, thereby compelling the conclusion that the Lowell project posed an undue adverse effect on the natural environment. ¶ 65. On August 31, 2011, the Board issued an order finding that GMP’s remediation efforts and proposed supplemental mitigation adequately addressed the impacts resulting from the unauthorized work on the easement parcels. The Board found that, despite the temporary impacts, the remediation efforts involving narrowing, stabilizing, and re-vegetating the cleared corridor “will ensure that there will be no permanent fragmentation effects” and will restore the parcels’ water quality functions. The Board further found that the supplemental mitigation—placing an additional 172 acres under permanent conservation easements—would adequately offset the impacts of “temporary gaps in the forest canopy” caused by clearing approximately twelve acres of land on the original mitigation easement parcels. In short, the Board agreed with the Towns that although the impacts of the work on the easement parcels “will not be fully eliminated until the canopy has regrown over a period of time, these impacts are nonetheless temporary and adequately offset by the permanent conservation of an additional 172 acres on terms more restrictive than those covering Parcels 1 and 2.” ¶ 66. In making this determination, the Board stressed that the impacts from the logging on the two parcels were “limited in nature and do not create the need for connectivity easements in the manner that project construction does.” As the Board explained: [I]t was the landscape level scale of fragmentation that would result from the project construction that gave rise to the need for connectivity easements. The limited nature of the impacts to Parcels 1 and 2 does not require the same remedy, and conserving more land in the immediate area, and increasing the restrictions on the previously identified Parcels 1 through 4, will adequately compensate for the temporary impacts to Parcels 1 and 2. ¶ 67. Thus, based on undisputed facts concerning the nature and scope of the work performed by the owner on the mitigation parcels, the Board concluded that although the original four easements were intended in part to address issues concerning fragmentation and the loss of connectivity caused by the Lowell project, this did not mean that the logging and resulting temporary loss of connectivity on the easement properties themselves negated the value and function of the mitigation easements in connection with the project and specifically Condition 15(a). As the Board made clear, even though the additional easements obtained by GMP as supplemental mitigation following the unauthorized work on the original easements “were not intended to provide connectivity,” the placement of more land under conservation resulted in “a greater degree of wildlife protection than the Mitigation parcels by themselves as contemplated in the Natural Resource MOU.” ¶ 68. The Board also addressed the Towns’ argument that due process demanded a technical hearing on whether GMP’s remediation and supplemental mitigation had adequately addressed the impacts of logging on the two easement parcels so that GMP was still in compliance with Condition 15(a) of the CPG. [6] The Board first noted that it was dealing with a post-certification compliance issue, which does not require the same level of process as the initial proceedings concerning a CPG petition. See In re Vt. Elec. Power Co. , 131 Vt. 427, 434-36, 306 A.2d 687, 691-92 (1973) (rejecting challenge to process whereby Board granted CPG with respect to general route of transmission lines but reserved post-certification review of specific route, at which time parties would have opportunity to comment and further hearing would “not [be] precluded should a comment be made which warrants a hearing”); see also In re UPC Vt. Wind, LLC , 2009 VT 19, ¶ 10 (citing Vt. Elec. Power Co. in concluding that Board “acted within its discretion in using post-certification proceedings to evaluate . . . compliance with the conditions imposed”). ¶ 69. According to the Board, “it is an accepted procedure” for post-certification compliance filings such as these “to afford the parties an opportunity to comment and request a hearing on the filings, with the Board then scheduling a hearing if any party demonstrates that the filings raise a substantial issue that requires a hearing or if the Board in its discretion deems a hearing is merited.” See Vt. Elec. Power Co. , 131 Vt. at 435, 306 A.2d at 692 (“By attacking the post-certification procedure employed by the Board, the appellants ignore the fact that it is an accepted practice of the Board and administrative tribunals generally.”). The Board also stated that it was not unusual for it to rely upon experts in assessing compliance with conditions of approval during post-certification reviews. ¶ 70. The Board then set forth the basis for its decision to deny the Towns’ request for a technical hearing on whether Condition 15(a) was satisfied in light of the logging activities and follow-up remediation and mitigation concerning the two easement parcels. The Board noted that, consistent with the process it had set forth in its August 11, 2011 compliance order, it had given each of the parties an opportunity to submit comments on the issues and had considered comments from GMP and its expert, the Towns and their expert, and ANR stating the view of its expert. The Board found ANR’s comments, referenced above, “to be the most reliable and persuasive.” ¶ 71. Observing that the impact of the clearing activities on two of the original easement parcels related more to water quality than anything else, the Board stated that the expert who submitted comments on behalf of the Towns had “only limited experience” with respect to the issues before it. The expert indicated to the Board that he had been a professional tree feller for only two years from 1974 to 1976 and that he had been appointed to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board in 2011. He represented to the Board that he had read extensively on the impacts of tree clearing and other development on wetlands and other natural resources. ¶ 72. The Board concluded that his representations were insufficient to warrant reliance on his opinion, noting that his affidavit provided no details on the reading he had done or on the type of tree-felling activities in which he had participated. The Board further noted that there was no indication he had ever published a paper on the issues before it or been qualified as an expert in proceedings addressing similar issues. Ultimately, after considering all of the parties’ comments, the Board concluded that the Towns had “failed to raise a significant issue that warrants additional process or hearings.” The Board based this conclusion on the “little weight” it gave to the opinion submitted by the Towns’ expert—especially compared to the impressive experience of ANR’s expert, whose credentials were well known to the Board from prior proceedings. One Board member dissented. Emphasizing that he did not necessarily disagree with the result reached by the Board, he stated nonetheless that the Board should not decide the adequacy of GMP’s remediation actions and proposed mitigation without first giving the Towns and LMG an opportunity to cross-examine ANR’s expert. ¶ 73. The Towns argue on appeal that the process afforded by the Board on the question of whether Condition 15(a) had been satisfied violated their due process rights and the Administrative Procedures Act. [7] According to the Towns, this case is not controlled by Vt. Elec. Power Co. because it does not concern predetermined issues for post-compliance review but rather unanticipated events creating doubts about the viability of mitigation easements critical to the Board’s conclusion that the Lowell project would not have an undue adverse impact on the natural environment. Thus, according to the Towns, at issue is more than a compliance filing, but rather the need for the Board to review its initial findings and conclusions regarding the required mitigation for the project’s otherwise undue adverse impacts. In support of this argument, the Towns do little more than note the “recognized distinction in administrative law between proceedings for the purpose of promulgating policy-type rules or standards, on the one hand, and proceedings designed to adjudicate disputed facts in particular cases on the other.” United States v. Fla. E. Coast Ry. Co. , 410 U.S. 224, 241-42, 245 (1973) (concluding that by according parties opportunity “to file statements of positions, submissions of evidence,” Interstate Commerce Commission satisfied statutory hearing requirement for its rate-making proceeding). ¶ 74. At the outset, we note the unusual context in which these arguments are made. Essentially, the Towns demanded that the Board revoke the CPG based on, among other things, its assertion that GMP had violated Condition 15(a) of the permit. As the Board noted, Condition 15(a) required GMP to comply with the MOU entered into between ANR and GMP, which, in relevant part, required GMP to obtain conservation easements on four identified parcels adjoining the proposed project to mitigate the project’s impacts on wildlife habitat. The MOU could have gone further and specified that the mitigation parcels had to remain in the same condition from when the MOU was signed until the easements were obtained, but, for whatever reason, neither ANR nor the Board imposed such a requirement. Moreover, nothing in the record suggests either that GMP was involved in or had notice of the landowner’s unauthorized activities, and neither Condition 15(a) nor the MOU compelled GMP to police the parcels during that interim to assure that they remained undisturbed. Accordingly, no ground existed to find a violation of Condition 15(a), and the Board focused on non-revocation remedies to remediate the damage to the mitigation parcels caused by the unauthorized activities. GMP cooperated fully with the process for finding an alternative source of mitigation, even though there was no requirement for it to extend such cooperation. ¶ 75. Given this context, the Board had more leeway with respect to the process accorded to the parties on the question of how to remediate the damage to the mitigation parcels. We agree with the Towns that the ANR attorney’s letter to the Board summarizing an opinion by ANR’s expert on the sufficiency of GMP’s remediation efforts was hardly the “complete explanation from a qualified expert” requested of ANR. Normally, this type of a response would not be acceptable in a contested matter before the Board. But, in this context, the Board could consider the information presented in the letter to determine whether more process was due in the form of an evidentiary hearing. As explained below, the record does not provide a basis to disturb the Board’s conclusion that the Towns failed to submit information demonstrating the need for an evidentiary hearing. ¶ 76. The Towns do not point to any specific statutory hearing requirement, but rather claim a constitutional procedural due process violation. “[D]ue process concerns arise whenever the state deprives an individual of an interest in the use of real or personal property.” Town of Randolph v. Estate of White , 166 Vt. 280, 285, 693 A.2d 694, 697 (1997). “The presumption is that an individual is entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard prior to deprivation of a property interest.” Hegarty v. Addison Cnty. Humane Soc’y , 2004 VT 33, ¶ 18, 176 Vt. 405, 848 A.2d 1139. “Once such a deprivation is established, we must determine what process the complainant is due.” Id .; see Fuentes v. Shevin , 407 U.S. 67, 80 (1972) (stating that due process requires notice and opportunity to be heard “at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner” (quotation omitted)). ¶ 77. Those claiming a violation of procedural due process in administrative proceedings, under either the federal or Vermont constitutions, have the burden of showing such a violation by applying a three-part test that balances the various interests and risks involved. See Mathews v. Eldridge , 424 U.S. 319, 335 (1976) (requiring balancing of (1) private interest affected by official action; (2) risk of erroneous deprivation of interest through procedures used, and probable value of additional procedures; and (3) government’s interest, including function involved and fiscal and administrative burdens that additional procedural requirements would entail); Holton v. Dep’t of Emp’t & Training , 2005 VT 42, ¶ 26, 178 Vt. 147, 878 A.2d 1051 (demonstrating deficiency in terms of procedural fairness of administrative procedures, as set forth in Mathews v. Eldridge , “is an element of . . . burden in showing procedural due process violation”). In short, “the process due in a given administrative proceeding depends on the interest at stake.” In re Smith , 169 Vt. 162, 171, 730 A.2d 605, 613 (1999). ¶ 78. Here, the Towns fail to make any such analysis. They make no attempt to address the Eldridge factors by balancing the various interests and risks involved. Rather, they merely cite case law supporting their contention that they were entitled to a hearing to cross-examine witnesses concerning disputed facts. Yet, most, if not all, of the facts appear to be undisputed. Indeed, there does not appear to be any dispute as to what clearing activities occurred on the easement parcels or what GMP did to remediate and offset those activities. The dispute, rather, is about whether GMP remained in compliance with Condition 15(a) given the tree clearing activities and GMP’s response. The Board gave the parties, including the Towns, an opportunity to address that question in written comments. The Board also gave the parties, including the Towns, an opportunity to demonstrate that a technical hearing was required to resolve that question. The Towns took advantage of the opportunity to comment and request a hearing but failed to convince the Board that a significant issue was raised by these facts, so as to require a technical hearing. ¶ 79. After reviewing the parties’ comments, the Board determined that GMP’s remediation efforts were sufficient to restore the function intended for the easement parcels, and that the additional conservation easements obtained in mitigation in response to the unauthorized activities resulted in a greater degree of wildlife protection than anticipated or required by the CPG. Importantly, with respect to the Towns’ due process claim, the Board found that the Towns had failed to raise a significant issue that warranted a technical hearing because their expert who provided an opinion on the effects of the clearing activity was not qualified to do so. In short, the Board determined that, despite being given an opportunity to do so, the Towns failed to produce an expert opinion indicating that there was a significant question as to whether the function of the original easement parcels had been compromised. In addition, as discussed above, even if there had been such evidence, the Towns could not obtain the remedy they sought—revocation of the permit. ¶ 80. We conclude that the Towns have failed to meet their burden of demonstrating that the Board violated their constitutional right to due process by not holding an evidentiary hearing on whether GMP’s efforts were sufficient to address the damage caused to the mitigation parcels. The Board informed the parties in advance of the process to be followed. The Towns concede that they were given an opportunity to comment and to request a technical hearing, but the Towns were unable to persuade the Board that a hearing was required. It would create substantial procedural expense for the parties and for the Board to hold a full-blown technical hearing every time there is a post-certification claim that any number of CPG condition had not been complied with. The CPG in this case alone contained forty-five conditions, any of one of which could have been the subject of a lack-of-compliance claim. ¶ 81. Moreover, as noted, this particular matter involved unusual circumstances in which a nonparty to the proceedings engaged in unauthorized activities that may have undermined the purpose behind one of the permit conditions but did not put the permittee, GMP, in breach of that condition. GMP nonetheless reported those activities, and the Board established a process that gave all of the parties an opportunity to comment on what needed to be done to ensure that the unauthorized activities had a minimal adverse impact. The process accorded to the parties by the Board under these circumstances was reasonable. Cf. Vt. Elec. Power Co. , 131 Vt. at 434-35, 306 A.2d at 692 (approving process whereby Board gave parties in post-certification proceeding opportunity to comment and convince Board that hearing was necessary for further review as to location of transmission lines). ¶ 82. The real question is whether the Board abused its discretion in denying a hearing in this instance, given the comments it received from the parties. The Towns do not challenge the Board’s finding that their expert was unqualified, which was the basis for the Board’s conclusion that they failed to raise a significant issue warranting a technical hearing. Accordingly, we find no abuse of discretion in the Board’s decision not to hold a hearing. Cf. In re D.B. , 161 Vt. 217, 222, 635 A.2d 1207, 1210 (1993) (holding that V.R.C.P. 78(b)(2), which gives trial courts discretion whether to hold hearings on written motions, provides trial courts with discretion to deny evidentiary hearings on post-trial motions). ¶ 83. Regarding the merits of the Board’s ruling, the Towns argue that the Board erred in concluding that GMP’s remediation and mitigation was sufficient to counter the otherwise undue adverse impacts to the natural environment posed by the project. According to the Towns, the Board’s conclusion that GMP’s remediation and mitigation actions were sufficient must be reversed because: (1) the Board specifically found during the CPG proceedings that the Lowell project would have undue adverse effects on the natural environment absent the mitigation set forth in the MOU; (2) GMP acknowledged, and the Board found, that the fragmentation (opening in the forest canopy) resulting from the tree cutting on the easement parcels will not be completely remedied for years; and (3) the supplemental mitigation resulting from GMP obtaining conservation easements on unconnected parcels does not address the fragmentation that occurred on the original easements. ¶ 84. We disagree with this logic and find no basis to overturn the Board’s decision, given the deference we owe to the Board on such matters. As the Board explained, much of the clearing activity occurred within the access road corridor that was to be cleared anyway and the tree cutting did not result in the same degree of impact to habitat connectivity “or create the need for connectivity easements in the manner that project construction does.” As noted, the Board also found that the “proposed supplemental mitigation and the increased restrictions on allowed uses of the Mitigation Parcels results in even greater protection of wildlife within the Lowell Mountain Habitat Block than what was contemplated by the Board’s May 31 Order.” As the Board explained, with the additional 172 acres in conservation easements, and the increased restrictions on the original mitigation easements, the fact that some relatively minor fragmentation (compared to that resulting from the project) occurred on the easements obtained as part of the MOU does not mean that the four original easement parcels could no longer satisfy Condition 15(a) or mitigate the fragmentation concerns resulting from the project itself. ¶ 85. In response to the tree cutting on the easement parcels, consistent with ANR’s § 1272 order, the Board required GMP to “ensure that parcels are remediated to a condition as near as possible to that which was contemplated during the technical hearing, or failing that , that appropriate supplemental mitigation is in place to offset any impacts to the mitigation parcels that cannot be corrected in a timely fashion .” (Emphasis added.) In the end, the Board concluded that GMP remediated the tree cutting activities on the original easement parcels to the fullest extent possible, and further that the additional conservation easements obtained as supplemental mitigation—when combined with the original easements subject to additional restrictions—would provide a greater degree of wildlife protection than the original easements alone as contemplated under the MOU. The fact that the Board asked GMP to consider how the supplemental mitigation would address fragmentation on the easement parcels caused by the logging did not preclude the Board from determining, after considering the parties’ comments, that GMP’s remediation and mitigation actions with respect to the tree-cutting activities were sufficient to satisfy Condition 15(a) of the CPG. ¶ 86. The dissent would have this Court compel the Board to hold additional evidentiary hearings, even though the Board had taken voluminous testimony on issues related to the mitigation parcels, there was no dispute as to the material facts concerning the unauthorized work on those parcels, and the Towns were unable to produce any credible expert testimony raising serious doubts about the viability of the CPG or its Condition 15(a). We decline to disturb the Board’s reasoned basis for denying the Towns’ request for evidentiary hearings on this matter, given their failure to proffer any evidence warranting such hearings.