Opinion ID: 751671
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Stricken Agency Documents

Text: 17 NEC contends that the district court erred by striking its exhibits. NEC presents two arguments for including its exhibits: (1) the general rule limiting judicial review to the administrative record does not apply where plaintiffs challenge an agency's refusal to prepare an EIS in the first instance, and (2) the documents submitted by plaintiffs fall within well-established exceptions to the rule limiting judicial review to the administrative record. The Secretaries, on the other hand, counter that NEC failed to show that its exhibits were considered by agency officials with decision-making authority at the time the POC Programs were developed and that several of NEC's exhibits postdate the completed FS Action Plan and BLM Management Guidelines. Moreover, while acknowledging that several narrow circumstances allow consideration of extra-record material, the Secretaries claim that NEC failed to establish how any of its exhibits qualify for any of the exceptions. The Secretaries also contend that even if exclusion of the exhibits was improper their exclusion was merely harmless error because the district court previously concluded that the exhibits would have no impact on its decision. 18 While realizing that it was authorized to look beyond the administrative record, the district court declined to do so for three reasons. First, the court found that it was unnecessary to go beyond the record to determine whether the POC Program was a final agency action. Next, the court reasoned that it was unnecessary to go beyond the administrative record to decide whether the adoption of the Action Plan and Guidelines triggered NEPA procedures. Finally, finding that many of the Plaintiffs' exhibits duplicated material already found in the agency record, the court struck these exhibits as cumulative.
19 We review the district court's decision to exclude extra-record evidence for an abuse of discretion. Southwest Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Forest Service, 100 F.3d 1443, 1447 (9th Cir.1996).
20 We allow consideration of extra-record materials in four circumstances: (1) if necessary to determine whether the agency has considered all relevant factors and has explained its decision, (2) when the agency has relied on documents not in the record, or (3) when supplementing the record is necessary to explain technical terms or complex subject matter, and (4) when the plaintiffs make a showing of agency bad faith. Southwest Center, 100 F.3d at 1450. NEC arguably points to the second exception when they state that the excluded exhibits are agency documents concerning the POC Program and were, as evident from the documents themselves, 'considered' in defendants' decision. NEC claims that it is both necessary and appropriate for plaintiffs to supplement the record with additional agency documents evidencing the existence, nature, and scope of the agency's actions. 21 Judicial review of agency action is generally limited to review of the administrative record. See 5 U.S.C. § 706; Animal Defense Council v. Hodel, 840 F.2d l432, 1436 (9th Cir.1988). However, where the issue is alleged agency inaction, we believe the scope of review in cases, such as this one, is broader, particularly where the issue is whether an agency's activities have triggered NEPA's procedures. A broader scope of review is necessary because there will generally be little, if any, record to review. Because NEPA is essentially a procedural statute, an agency's actions under NEPA are generally reviewed to determine if the agency observed the appropriate procedural requirements. LaFlamme v. F.E.R.C., 852 F.2d 389, 399 (9th Cir.1988) citing 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(D). 22 Although it certainly would have been proper for the court to consider Plaintiffs' exhibits, the district court did not abuse its discretion when it struck the documents at issue. As the district court correctly noted, judicial review of an agency decision not to issue an EIS is generally limited to review of the administrative record at the time the decision was made. See Friends of the Earth v. Hintz, 800 F.2d 822, 829 (9th Cir.1986). Furthermore, the district court found some of the documents cumulative of those already in the agency record, and made an independent inquiry into whether the exhibits might prove outcome determinative and decided that they did not. The district court succinctly points out, the real issue is not the POC Program's existence as such, but whether it constitutes a 'final agency action' for purposes of the Administrative Procedure Action. It was not necessary to go beyond the administrative record to decide whether the FS POC Action Plan and the BLM POC Management Guidelines triggered NEPA procedures. Thus, we find it was not an abuse of discretion for the district court to strike cumulative and unnecessary documents outside the administrative record. Furthermore, since the district court actually considered the stricken documents in making its decision, the plaintiffs suffered no prejudice by their exclusion.