Opinion ID: 2809284
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Reinitiation of Section 7 consultation

Text: We turn to the merits of Cottonwood’s argument that the Forest Service violated Section 7 of the ESA by failing to reinitiate consultation on the Lynx Amendments when FWS COTTONWOOD ENVTL. LAW CTR. V. USFS 21 designated critical habitat on National Forest land. The Forest Service asserts that it had no remaining Section 7 obligations related to the Lynx Amendments “because the Forest Service completed its action in 2007 when it made a final decision to amend the [Forest Plans].” We disagree and hold that the Forest Service must reinitiate consultation on the Lynx Amendments.
Under Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA, [e]ach Federal agency shall, in consultation with and with the assistance of the Secretary [of Commerce or the Interior] insure that any action authorized, funded, or carried out by such agency . . . is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of [the critical] habitat of such species . . . . 16 U.S.C. § 1536(a)(2). If it appears that an action may affect an endangered or threatened species, the consulting agency must provide a biological opinion to the action agency explaining how the action “affects the species or its critical habitat.” Id. § 1536(b)(3)(A). When a biological opinion concludes that the action is likely to jeopardize an endangered or threatened species, or adversely modify its habitat, then the consulting agency must suggest “reasonable and prudent alternatives.” Id. If the biological opinion concludes otherwise, then the action is permitted to proceed. 22 COTTONWOOD ENVTL. LAW CTR. V. USFS The implementing regulations for the ESA define “action” as “all activities or programs of any kind authorized, funded, or carried out . . . by Federal agencies.” 50 C.F.R. § 402.02. The regulation lists, as examples, “actions intended to conserve listed species or their habitat,” id. § 402.02(a), and “actions directly or indirectly causing modifications to the land, water, or air,” id. § 402.02(d). There is no dispute that the adoption of the Lynx Amendments was an action that required consultation and that the 2007 BiOp satisfied the Forest Service’s initial Section 7 obligations. However, as noted above, because FWS had decided not to designate any National Forest land as critical habitat, the initial BiOp did not address, or respond to, the impact of the Lynx Amendments on designated critical habitat. The parties disagree about whether the 2009 revised critical habitat designation required reinitiation of Section 7 consultation on the Lynx Amendments. The Forest Service argues that reinitiation was not required because it had already promulgated the Lynx Amendments and incorporated them into the Forest Plans when the FWS released its revised critical habitat designation. For support, the Forest Service relies on Norton v. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 542 U.S. 55, 73 (2004) (“SUWA”). In SUWA, the Supreme Court considered whether the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321–4370, required the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) to supplement its environmental review of a land use plan if significant new information emerged after the plan was approved. Applying NEPA, the Court explained that “supplementation is necessary only if there remains ‘major Federal action’ to occur.” Id. at 73 (citing 42 U.S.C. § 4332 and 43 C.F.R. § 1601.0-6) (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). The Court COTTONWOOD ENVTL. LAW CTR. V. USFS 23 concluded that, because the land use plan was complete upon approval, the BLM had no obligation to supplement its environmental analysis. In analogizing to SUWA, the Forest Service ignores a key difference between NEPA and the regulations governing reinitiation of consultation under the ESA. The governing ESA regulation states, in relevant part, [r]einitiation of formal consultation is required and shall be requested by the Federal agency or by the Service, where discretionary Federal involvement or control over the action has been retained or is authorized by law and: ... (b) If new information reveals effects of the action that may affect listed species or critical habitat in a manner or to an extent not previously considered; . . . , or (d) If a new species is listed or critical habitat designated that may be affected by the identified action. 24 COTTONWOOD ENVTL. LAW CTR. V. USFS 50 C.F.R. § 402.16.11 Unlike the supplementation of environmental review at issue in SUWA, an agency’s responsibility to reinitiate consultation does not terminate when the underlying action is complete. Stated another way, there is nothing in the ESA or its implementing regulations that limits reinitiation to situations where there is “ongoing agency action.”12 The 2009 revised critical habitat designation clearly meets the requirements of subsections (b) and (d) above. See id. The determinative question, therefore, is whether “discretionary Federal involvement or control over the [Lynx Amendments] has been retained or is authorized by law.” See id.
In National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife, the Supreme Court clarified that the regulatory language limiting agencies’ Section 7 obligations to actions 11 The regulation governing reinitiation of consultation corresponds with the regulation governing consultation, generally. 50 C.F.R. § 402.03 (“Section 7 and the requirements of this part apply to all actions in which there is discretionary Federal involvement or control.”). 12 The parties vigorously debate whether our opinion in Pacific Rivers Council v. Thomas, 30 F.3d 1050 (9th Cir. 1994) is still good law after SUWA. In Pacific Rivers, we held that the Forest Service was required to reinitiate consultation because Forest Plans are “ongoing agency action.” Id. at 1053. We do not address the viability of Pacific Rivers’ reasoning after SUWA because it is not determinative of whether the Forest Service was required to reinitiate consultation. We certainly agree that where there is “ongoing agency action,” an agency may be required to reinitiate consultation. However, even if the agency action is complete and not “ongoing,” the agency still may be required to reinitiate consultation if there is “discretionary Federal involvement or control” over the completed action. COTTONWOOD ENVTL. LAW CTR. V. USFS 25 over which they maintain “discretionary Federal involvement or control” is designed to avoid “impliedly repealing nondiscretionary statutory mandates.” 551 U.S. 644, 665 (2007). Section 7 does not “attach to actions . . . that an agency is required by statute to undertake,” because it could lead to an “override” of other statutory authority. Id. at 669. Similarly, “[i]n the case where a permit or license ha[s] been granted, reinitiation would not be appropriate unless the permitting or licensing agency retained jurisdiction over the matter under the terms of the permit or license or as otherwise authorized by law.” Interagency Cooperation—Endangered Species Act of 1973, as Amended; Final Rule, 51 Fed. Reg. 19926-01, 19956 (June 3, 1986); see also Sierra Club v. Babbitt, 65 F.3d 1502, 1509 (9th Cir. 1995) (holding that there is not sufficient discretion to warrant Section 7 consultation where an agency lacks the ability to influence a private action). In other words, if an agency has no discretion to take any action that might benefit the threatened species, Section 7 consultation would be “a meaningless exercise.” Envtl. Prot. Info. Ctr. v. Simpson Timber Co., 255 F.3d 1073, 1085 (9th Cir. 2001) (“EPIC”) (Nelson, J. dissenting) (citing Sierra Club, 65 F.3d at 1509); see also Jewell, 749 F.3d at 784 (“The agency lacks discretion only if another legal obligation makes it impossible for the agency to exercise discretion for the protected species’ benefit.”). Here, there is no “nondiscretionary statutory mandate[],” see Home Builders, 551 U.S. at 665, nor “legal obligation,” see Jewell, 749 F.3d at 784, at issue that is beyond the Forest Service’s authority. Reinitiation of Section 7 consultation, therefore, could yield important actionable information. The Forest Service remains “involve[d]” in the Forest Plans, 50 C.F.R. § 402.16, because, as SUWA itself explained, agencies make additional decisions after approval that implement land 26 COTTONWOOD ENVTL. LAW CTR. V. USFS use plans at the site-specific level, see 542 U.S. at 69–70. Further, the Forest Service retains exclusive “control,” 50 C.F.R. § 402.16, over its own Forest Plans throughout their implementation. Indeed, we have repeatedly explained that Forest Plans fall squarely within the “discretionary” parameters of 50 C.F.R. §§ 402.03 and 402.16 because, through the Forest Plans, the Forest Service retains a “continuing ability . . . to control forest management projects . . . .” Sierra Club, 65 F.3d at 1509; see also W. Watersheds Project v. Matejko, 468 F.3d 1099, 1110 (9th Cir. 2006) (explaining our holding in Pacific Rivers Council, 30 F.3d at 1053–54, that Section 7 applies to Forest Plans, because the Forest Service “maintain[s] continuing authority”); EPIC, 255 F.3d at 1080.
This is not the first time since SUWA that we have decided that an agency has obligations under Section 7 even after the underlying action is complete. In Washington Toxics Coalition v. Environmental Protection Agency, 413 F.3d 1024 (9th Cir. 2005), the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) argued that, because it had completed registration of fifty-four pesticides pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 136 et seq., it was not required to comply with Section 7. 413 F.3d at 1030–33. Rejecting that argument, we clarified that the appropriate test is not whether the agency has completed its action, but whether it retains regulatory authority over the action. Id. at 1033. We concluded that “[b]ecause EPA has continuing authority over pesticide regulation, it has a continuing obligation to follow the requirements of the ESA.” Id. We explained that it was EPA’s discretion to take actions COTTONWOOD ENVTL. LAW CTR. V. USFS 27 that “inure to the benefit” of protected species that placed the registrations within the ambit of Section 7. Id. As in Washington Toxics, it is irrelevant here whether the process of incorporating the Lynx Amendments into the Forest Plans was complete when FWS designated lynx critical habitat on National Forest land. “Because [the Forest Service] has continuing authority over [the Lynx Amendments to the Forest Plans], it has a continuing obligation to follow the requirements of the ESA.” See id. The Forest Service’s “ongoing regulatory authority” provides it “discretionary control to inure to the benefit of [the Canada lynx].” See id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Indeed, the Forest Service’s decision to voluntarily reinitiate consultation in some forests, but not in others, demonstrates that it retains discretion and authority over the Lynx Amendments, and that it does not view reinitiation of consultation as a meaningless exercise. Requiring reinitiation in these circumstances comports with the ESA’s statutory command that agencies consult to ensure the “continued existence” of listed species. 16 U.S.C. § 1536(a)(2), (4) (emphasis added). The Forest Service’s position in this case would relegate the ESA—“the most comprehensive legislation for the preservation of endangered species ever enacted by any nation,” Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153, 180 (1978)—to a static law that evaluates and responds to the impact of an action before that action takes place, but does not provide for any further evaluation or response when new information emerges that is critical to the evaluation. Here, FWS discovered that its decision on critical habitat had been tainted by an ethical lapse in its own administrative ranks. Re-evaluation of the data generated a drastically different result that justified vast 28 COTTONWOOD ENVTL. LAW CTR. V. USFS designation of previously unprotected critical habitat. These new protections triggered new obligations. The Forest Service cannot evade its obligations by relying on an analysis it completed before the protections were put in place. We hold that, pursuant to the ESA’s implementing regulations, the Forest Service was required to reinitiate consultation when the FWS designated critical habitat in National Forests. We therefore affirm the district court ruling on this issue.