Opinion ID: 445218
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the timeliness of the petition for judicial review

Text: 9 If, as the federal appellees argue and the District Court found, Montana's petition for review was not timely, we need not face the statutory question at all. We conclude, however, that the Act's 60-day period for judicial review ran from June 30, 1982, the date of the challenged regulation's republication, and not from October 25, 1978, the date of its original promulgation. Under controlling principles of administrative law, Montana's petition for judicial review, filed 58 days after the regulation's reissuance, was properly before the District Court. 10 Section 1276(a)(1) of the Act requires that petitions for review of regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior be filed within 60 days of issuance of the regulations. The Secretary initially issued the challenged regulation on October 25, 1978. 43 Fed.Reg. 49940, 30 C.F.R. Part 872. Montana does not dispute that, although it had notice of the regulation and full opportunity to challenge it at that time, it elected not to do so. On December 11, 1981 OSM published proposed rules in the Federal Register and solicited comments from the public. 46 Fed.Reg. 60778. One of those rules, the regulation at issue in this case, was identical to that published in 1978. Id. at 60781. Apparently, the Secretary's primary motivation for initiating rulemaking procedures was to determine whether the OSM regulations complied with Executive Order 12291, which mandates a weighing of the costs and benefits of agency regulations. 47 Fed.Reg. 28574 (1982). 11 But in seeking early and meaningful public participation, the Secretary did not limit comments to consideration of the burdensomeness of the regulations. 46 Fed.Reg. 60779 (1981). Indeed, with reference to 872.11(b)(3) he took the opportunity expressly to explain the substitution of Indian lands for the statutory language Indian reservation. Id. at 60782. Two states, Montana and New Mexico, submitted comments objecting to 872.11(b)(3). On June 30, 1982 the agency announced final rules designed to clarify the relationships and responsibilities of the States, Indian tribes, and Federal Government in implementing the surface mining regulatory program. 47 Fed.Reg. 28574 (1982). The agency expressly considered, responded to, and rejected Montana's comments. Id. at 28580, 28592. Fifty-eight days later Montana filed this petition for judicial review of the final rules. 12 The law in this circuit is clear that an agency decision not to amend long-standing rules after a notice and comment period is reviewable agency action. 7 See, e.g., Professional Drivers Council v. Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety, 706 F.2d 1216, 1221 (D.C.Cir.1983). Although acknowledging the general reviewability of a decision not to amend, the District Court believed that Natural Resources Defense Council v. NRC (NRDC ), 666 F.2d 595 (D.C.Cir.1981), carved from this rule a broad exception for all petitioners who had failed to exercise a prior opportunity to seek judicial review. The rule of NRDC, however, does not cut so deeply into the general principle that all final agency action is presumptively reviewable. Natural Resources Defense Council v. SEC, 606 F.2d 1031, 1047 (D.C.Cir.1979). NRDC merely holds that a protestant, who could have but did not seek review, may not create the basis for a reviewable order by unilaterally petitioning for repeal or amendment of a regulation. 8 To permit any complainant to restart the limitations period by petitioning for review of a rule, the NRDC court recognized, would eviscerate the congressional concern for finality embodied in time limitations on review. 13 This concern is not present in the instant case. Montana did not contrive to restart the 60-day period by unilaterally seeking repeal of a long-standing regulation. Indisputably, the agency itself initiated rulemaking procedures in 1981. It held out Section 872.11(b)(3) as a proposed regulation, offered an explanation for its language, solicited comments on its substance, and responded to the comments in promulgating the regulation in its final form. Given the affirmative indications that the agency evaluated the entire substance of the regulation, it matters little whether the agency's primary focus was on bringing the comprehensive regulatory scheme in compliance with Executive Order 12291. Unless we are to consider the notice and comment process a meaningless gesture, the order of June 1982 reissuing Section 872.11(b)(3) constitutes final agency action and is reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 704. Toilet Goods Ass'n v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 158, 162, 87 S.Ct. 1520, 1523, 18 L.Ed.2d 697 (1967). The 60-day period for review began on June 30, 1982 and, accordingly, the petition was timely.