Opinion ID: 3064943
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: standard of review

Text: Under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), agency decisions may be set aside only if “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” Earth Island Inst. v. U.S. Forest Serv., 442 F.3d 1147, 1156 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A)). “Review under this standard is narrow, and the reviewing court may not substitute its judgment for that of the agency.” Id. at 1156. “We reverse under the arbitrary and capricious standard only if the agency has relied on factors that Congress has not intended it to consider, has entirely failed to consider an important aspect of the problem, or has offered an explanation for that decision that runs counter to the evidence before the agency or is so implausible that it could not be ascribed to a difference in view or the product of agency expertise.” Id. “[A]n agency’s interpretation of its own regulations is ‘controlling’ unless ‘plainly erroneous’ or inconsistent with ‘the regulations being interpreted.’ ” Long Island Care at Home, 9630 PUBLIC CITIZEN v. NRC Ltd. v. Coke, 127 S. Ct. 2339, 2349 (2007) (citing Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., 325 U.S. 410, 414 (1945)). This court is limited to a review of the reasoning the agency relied upon in making its decision. Safe Air for Everyone v. EPA, 488 F.3d 1088, 1091 (9th Cir. 2007) (citing SEC v. Chenery Corp., 318 U.S. 80, 87 (1943)). “We will, however, uphold a decision of less than ideal clarity if the agency’s path may reasonably be discerned.” Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29, 43 (1983). “Where . . . the agency’s course of action indicates that the interpretation of its own regulation reflects its considered views [rather than merely post hoc rationalization] . . . we have accepted that interpretation as the agency’s own, even if the agency set those views forth in a legal brief.” Coke, 127 S. Ct. at 2349; see also Global Crossing Telecomm., Inc. v. Metrophones, 127 S. Ct. 1513, 1525 (2007) (noting that even if agency action is inadequately reasoned initially, context and history of position can make agency’s rationale obvious).