Opinion ID: 75867
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Biological Assessment

Text: 32 Sierra Club argues that the Corps was arbitrary and capricious in not preparing a biological assessment as part of the permit approval process. It asserts that the existence of the 1993 BA conclusively establishes that the Parkway is a major federal construction project which requires an agency to prepare a BA before taking action. In the alternative, it also argues that because the alignment of the road was changed, the Corps was required to develop a supplemental EIS and a new BA. Because we are satisfied that the Corps complied with the statutory requirements for a major construction activity, we can assume arguendo that the Parkway is a major federal action. 13 33 As a preliminary matter, we must clarify the relationship between a biological assessment, as described in the ESA, and an environmental impact study, as described in NEPA. A BA is prepared in order to evaluate the impact of an action on a threatened or endangered species. The ESA specifically provides that the BA requirement can be fulfilled as part of the procedural requirements established by NEPA. 16 U.S.C. § 1536(c)(1). When an agency prepares an EIS, it is complying with the BA requirement, provided that one of the environmental impacts discussed is the impact on threatened and endangered species. 14 34 Because the 1994 EIS does evaluate the impact of the road on listed species, the initial BA requirement was satisfied. If new information regarding endangered species became available, or if environmental consequences not already evaluated came to light, the Corps would have been required to prepare a new BA or an SEIS. It would not, however, have been required to prepare both. We will analyze Sierra Club's challenge first by demonstrating that the Corps complied with the statutory requirements for a major construction activity, and then by asking whether the Corps should have prepared a supplemental EIS. 35 The administrative record establishes that the Corps did fully comply with the requirements established by NEPA and the ESA for a major project with significant effects on the human environment. First, it acted as a cooperating agency in the preparation of the 1994 EIS. Second, it remained involved in the planning process throughout the development of the mitigation plan and the other methods to avoid and minimize the impact of the Parkway. Third, the Corps acted both efficiently and consistently with NEPA regulations by incorporating the previous studies into its current analysis. The 1997 EAs all incorporate portions of the 1993 biological opinion and rely on the 1994 EIS, as well as the work done during the partnership process. 15 The initial 1997 EA, prepared January 6, 1997, extensively referred to and relied upon the 1994 EIS and the 1993 biological opinion. Indeed, the reasonable and prudent measures and terms and conditions detailed by FWS in the 1993 biological opinion were incorporated verbatim, with notations describing the changes being made to increase the mitigating effects. Subsequent EAs in 1997 referred back to this January 6, 1997 EA and the 1994 EIS. Such reliance on a previous EIS is specifically authorized. Regulation 40 C.F.R. § 1502.20, entitled Tiering provides in relevant part: 36 Whenever a broad environmental impact statement has been prepared ... and a subsequent ... environmental assessment is then prepared on an action included within the entire program ... the subsequent ... environmental assessment need only summarize the issues discussed in the broader statement and incorporate discussions from the broader statement by reference.... 37 See also 40 C.F.R. § 1508.28; 50 C.F.R. § 402.12(g); 33 C.F.R. § 230.13(c). 16 38 Thus, it is clear from the administrative record that the Corps had before it a full picture of the environmental consequences of the Suncoast Parkway. It concluded in the EAs that given the alterations to the project and the mitigation plan, the environmental impacts of the Parkway were no longer significant. We have previously affirmed the validity of such a decision, where, as here, the mitigation measures are a condition of agency approval. C.A.R.E. Now, Inc. v. F.A.A., 844 F.2d 1569, 1575 (11th Cir.1988) (When mitigation measures compensate for otherwise adverse environmental impacts, the threshold level of `significant impacts' is not reached so no EIS is required.). Given the mitigation and the beneficial alterations to the project, the Corps did not act arbitrarily and capriciously in determining that a supplemental environmental impact statement was not required. The Corps fully complied with its NEPA requirements. As the ESA provides that the BA requirement may be satisfied through NEPA procedures, the Corps also fulfilled its ESA requirements. 39 We also reject Sierra Club's alternate argument that the change in the road alignment created a substantially new project requiring a new BA (or, in the alternative, an SEIS). The new alignment did not create a new project. It altered the existing project in such a way as to further minimize its environmental impact. As the 1997 EAs explain, the new alignment of the road was adopted by the partnering organizations as a means of minimizing the impact described in the 1994 EIS. A 1996 letter from FWS to the Corps supports this conclusion. In the letter, the FWS informs the Corps that [t]he proposed compensation plan is consistent with the reasonable and prudent measures and terms and conditions of [the 1993 biological] opinion. It was partly on this basis that FWS concluded that the Corps had fulfilled its Section 7 requirements. When an agency implements a minimizing measure, it is not automatically required to redo the entire environmental analysis. A supplemental EIS is required only when the post-[original EIS] changes in the [project] will have a `significant' impact on the environment that has not previously been covered by the [original] EIS. Nat'l Wildlife Fed'n v. Marsh, 721 F.2d 767, 782 (11th Cir.1983); 40 C.F.R. § 1502.9(c)(1). In the case of the realignment, the new route was entirely within the study area of the 1994 EIS. Any environmental impacts from the new alignment were covered within the 1994 EIS. Thus, the Corps was not required to undertake a new EIS. 40 Nor do we see any other changes to the Parkway project, made subsequent to the 1994 EIS, that are significant, such as to require an SEIS. The 1994 EIS, which included only a conceptual mitigation plan, envisioned the set-aside of 1795 acres of specific tracts for preservation, the acquisition of 45 acres for enhancement or restoration, and 165 acres for creation of new wetlands. The changes made after 1994 minimize the impact of the road and focus on conserving wetlands, rather than altering the existing landscape. 17 The final plan set aside 10,168 acres for conservation, which encompasses a larger area surrounding the specific tracts identified in the 1994 EIS. Unlike the mitigation package in National Wildlife Federation v. Marsh, this conservation does not create change in the character of the land itself. 721 F.2d at 783. By establishing conservation easements over tracts of land specifically purchased to compensate for the wetlands lost to the Parkway, the conservation portion of the mitigation plan does not create any significant impact on the environment. The mitigation plan also provides for wildlife underpasses, which is an alteration to the construction plans for the road, and also does not create a significant impact on the surrounding environment. 41 We note that considerable time and resources were saved by the partnership process. By contributing its input and maintaining involvement throughout the development of the Suncoast Parkway, the Corps not only developed an adequate record of the environmental consequences, but also helped ensure that the road would have as minimal an impact as possible. We are satisfied that the Corps fulfilled its statutory requirements under both the ESA and NEPA.