Opinion ID: 169168
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Federal Regulatory Framework

Text: 7 The Forest Service is an agency within the Department of Agriculture. It manages the National Forest System under a multitude of federal statutes and regulations. Among those statutes is the NFMA, which is primarily concerned with planning. It directs the Forest Service to develop a land and resource management plan for each unit of national forest. See 16 U.S.C. § 1604(a),(e). 8 There are two levels of planning under the NFMA: program planning and project planning. See Ohio Forestry Assn. v. Sierra Club, 523 U.S. 726, 729-30, 118 S.Ct. 1665, 140 L.Ed.2d 921 (1998); Silverton Snowmobile Club v. U.S. Forest Serv., 433 F.3d 772, 785 (10th Cir.2006). Program planning refers to the Forest Service's creation of general, forest-wide planning goals set out in a forest plan. See Utah Envtl. Cong. v. Bosworth, 443 F.3d 732, 737 (10th Cir.2006) [hereinafter UEC III ]. 2 Because the Forest Service must account for a variety of interests, each forest plan contemplates that the forest will be used for multiple purposes, including outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, wildlife and fish, and wilderness. Id. (citing 16 U.S.C. § 1604(e)(1)). Project planning refers to the Forest Service's approval or disapproval of specific projects that implement (and consequently must comply with) the forest plan. Id. (citing 16 U.S.C. § 1604(i)). 9 The Secretary of Agriculture has promulgated a number of regulations that set forth the procedures for planning under the NFMA. The first set of regulations relevant to this case was implemented in 1982 (36 C.F.R. Part 219). See 47 Fed. Reg. 43026-01 (Sept. 20, 1982), and included provisions directing the Forest Service, as part of its planning process, to identify and monitor management indicator species. 3 The regulations required the Forest Service to collect population trend data for management indicator species. 36 C.F.R. §§ 219.19, 27 (1983). They also directed that [f]ish and wildlife habitat shall be managed to maintain viable populations of existing native and desired non-native vertebrate species. . . . Id. § 219.19. The 1982 regulations were superceded in November 2000 with new, substantially revised regulations. See 65 Fed.Reg. 67,514 (Nov. 9, 2000), codified at 36 C.F.R. Part 219 (2001). The 2000 regulations included several transition provisions specifying when the substantive planning provisions of the new regulations would become effective. Those transition provisions also set transition planning standards to govern forest plan amendments and site-specific project decisions during the transition period. UEC III, 443 F.3d at 746. 10 For forest plan revisions and amendments adopted during the transition period, agency officials could elect to use the substantive planning standards of either the 1982 regulations or the 2000 regulations. See 36 C.F.R. § 219.35(b) (2001). For site-specific project decisions made during the transition period, however, the transition rules directed that agency officials consider the best available science in implementing and, if appropriate, amending the current plan. Id. § 219.35(a), (d). 4 The transition period for site-specific project decisions was set to expire on November 9, 2003, bringing other substantive provisions of the 2000 regulations into effect. See id. § 219.35(d). However, that transition period was extended for site-specific projects by an Interim Final Rule issued on September 10, 2003. 68 Fed. Reg. 53294, 53294-96 (2003). That Interim Final Rule extended the transition period for site-specific projects until January 5, 2005 when the Department of Agriculture replaced the 2000 regulations with a new final rule. Id. at 53295; see also 70 Fed.Reg. 1022, 1022-23 (Jan. 5, 2005). Thus, site-specific project decisions made from November 9, 2000 to January 5, 2005, that implemented pre-November 9, 2000 forest plans, were to be made only under the best available science standard. See 69 Fed.Reg. 58055, 58056 (Sept. 29, 2004). [N]either the remainder of the 2000 planning regulations nor any of the 1982 regulations were binding on site-specific decisions during this period. Ecology Ctr., Inc. v. U.S. Forest Serv., 451 F.3d 1183, 1191 (10th Cir.2006).
11 The forest plan was adopted in 1986 and is intended to guide all natural resource management activities and establish management standards and guidelines for the Ashley National Forest. II Aplt.App. at 348. The plan designates twelve management indicator species for the Ashley National Forest, one of which is the CRCT. Id. at 553-54. The forest plan includes a provision directing the forest service to: 12 Complete [an] inventory of Management Indicator Species on the Forest to determine their occurrence, abundance, distribution, habitat requirements, and populations trends. 13 Id. at 419. 14 With respect to CRCT, the forest plan gives specific directives for how the species should be monitored. It directs that CRCT be monitored using population estimates and that such estimates be conducted and reported every five years. Id. at 549, 553. The plan states that further evaluation of CRCT populations will be necessary, or a change in management direction could occur, if there is a 20% reduction in population or if the biotic condition index 5 drops below 75. Id. at 553. 15 The forest plan also contains standards governing old-growth trees. It directs the Forest Service to [d]esignate and protect old growth areas for dependent species and provides that [o]ld growth should be a minimum of 160 contiguous acres and have old growth characteristics. Id. at 419. The plan specifically directs the Forest Service to [r]etain 5% of area in old growth conditions at all times. . . . Id. The forest plan does not define old growth or specify a method for its identification. For purposes of this project, the Forest Service defined old growth by using three old-growth attributes identified in R.G. Hamilton, United States Department of Agriculture, Characteristics of Old Growth Forests in the Intermountain Region (1993).
16 The NEPA requires federal agencies to examine and disclose the environmental impacts of their proposed actions. Baltimore Gas & Elec. Co. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, 462 U.S. 87, 97, 103 S.Ct. 2246, 76 L.Ed.2d 437 (1983). The NEPA imposes only procedural requirements and does not mandate results. Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council, 490 U.S. 332, 350-51, 109 S.Ct. 1835, 104 L.Ed.2d 351 (1989). Relevant to this case, the NEPA requires federal agencies to prepare an EIS for all major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. . . . 42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(C). 6 Under the NEPA's implementing regulations, an agency prepares a draft EIS in which it evaluates the proposed action and its direct, indirect, and cumulative impact on the environment. 40 C.F.R. § 1502.14 (2006). Specifically, the NEPA requires that an EIS provide cumulative effects analysis based on actual data. The NEPA defines cumulative effects as the impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions. . . . Id. § 1508.7. 17 In the draft stage, the agency must compare the proposed action to other reasonable alternatives, including taking no action at all. Id. § 1502.14. After a period of public comment and review, the agency responds to any comments, makes appropriate changes, and circulates a final draft of the EIS. Id. § 1503.4. The agency ultimately adopts a course of action by issuing an ROD.