Opinion ID: 2804451
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Issuance of Nationwide Permit 12

Text: The Corps prepared an environmental assessment of activities permitted under Nationwide Permit 12, which is challenged by the environmental groups. They contend the Corps unlawfully failed to consider  the risk of oil spills associated with pipelines and  the cumulative impacts of pipelines. We conclude that these challenges are waived. 1. Waiver: The General Rule and the Pertinent Exceptions Parties challenging an agency’s compliance with NEPA must ordinarily raise relevant objections during the public comment period. Dep’t of Transp. v. Pub. Citizen, 541 U.S. 752, 764-65 (2004). But two exceptions exist. First, commenters need not point out an environmental assessment’s flaw if it is “obvious.” Id. at 765. Second, a commenter does not waive an issue if it is otherwise brought to the agency’s attention. Forest Guardians v. U.S. Forest Serv., 495 F.3d 1162, 1170 (10th Cir. 2007). 5 Instead, the agency is to make a “finding of no significant impact.” Pub. Citizen, 541 U.S. at 757-58. 7 2. Risk of Oil Spills The environmental groups concede that no commenter raised the oilspill issue. See Appellants’ Reply Brief at 11. Nonetheless, the environmental groups contend that the issue is not waived because  the risk of oil spills is obvious, and  the Corps knew about the risk of oil spills when issuing the nationwide permit. We reject both of these contentions. 6 The environmental groups have not shown an obvious deficiency in the Corps’ environmental assessment, and the Corps’ knowledge of oil-spill risks does not relate to a deficiency in the Corps’ assessment for the construction, maintenance, and repair of utility lines.
The environmental groups assert that the oil-spill issue is not waived because the risk of oil spills is obvious. We reject this contention. 6 The environmental groups also state that until this project, installation of all major oil pipelines had undergone a project-level NEPA review. Based on this statement, the environmental groups say that they (1) did not perceive a need to make comments when the Corps considered the nationwide permit, and (2) should not be penalized for raising the issue in connection with the Keystone XL Pipeline proceedings rather than as an objection to Nationwide Permit 12. For the sake of argument, we can assume the environmental groups are correct. They appear to imply that they should not be subjected to the ordinary rules of exhaustion, requiring comment to the Corps as it was considering whether to issue the nationwide permit. But the environmental groups have not provided authority or analysis that would justify an exception to the ordinary rules of exhaustion based on the alleged change in practice. 8 To qualify for this exception, the environmental groups must show that the omission of any discussion of oil-spill risks entailed an obvious flaw in the environmental assessment. The environmental groups argue that the risk of oil spills is obvious. But that is not the groups’ burden. The environmental groups must show that the assessment for the construction, maintenance and repair of utility lines contained an obvious flaw, not that the agency failed to discuss impacts of an obvious risk associated with certain activity. See Dep’t of Transp. v. Pub. Citizen, 541 U.S. 752, 765 (2004) (stating that “an [environmental assessment’s] . . . flaws might be so obvious that there is no need for a commenter to point them out”). The fact that pipelines create a risk of spillage does not mean that the alleged deficiency in the Corps’ environmental assessment for the construction, maintenance, and repair of utility lines would have been obvious. Nationwide Permit 12 authorized the discharge of dredged or fill material in the construction, maintenance, and repair of a wide variety of utility lines, including lines to transmit gas, cable, electricity, telephone calls, radio transmissions, sewage, and oil. Appellants’ App. at 488-89; Reissuance of Nationwide Permits, 77 Fed. Reg. 10,184, at 10,271-72 (Feb. 21, 2012). In light of the variety of utility lines involved, the Corps focused on the actions that it authorized (discharge of dredged and fill material in the construction, maintenance, and repair of utility lines) rather than the eventual operation of the utility lines. See Appellants’ App. at 528 9 (assessing the environmental consequences of the activities authorized by Nationwide Permit 12). Once the utility lines were completed, each utility would seek approval from the pertinent regulatory body with jurisdiction over operations. For example, TransCanada would need to seek and obtain authorization from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which had jurisdiction over the operation of oil pipelines. See 49 C.F.R. §§ 195.401-402 (2012) (stating the requirements for operation of pipelines). Upon construction of the pipeline, TransCanada could not transport oil until it complied with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s requirements addressing the risk of oil spills. 49 C.F.R. § 194.7 (2012). The environmental groups argue that the Corps’ environmental assessment should have been broader, examining the risks from the utility lines’ operations as well as their construction. But this criticism relates to the merits of the NEPA claim rather than the obviousness of the alleged deficiency to the Corps. 7 The Corps set out to consider all categories of environmental risks from the activities authorized under Nationwide Permit 12 (as well as the cumulative impacts of other activities affecting the 7 The environmental groups argue that some other courts require the Corps to consider the risk of oil spills. See Ocean Advocates v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs, 402 F.3d 846, 868 (9th Cir. 2005); Sierra Club v. Sigler, 695 F.2d 957, 962 (5th Cir. 1983). This argument relates to the merits rather than exhaustion. Because the oil-spill claim is unexhausted, we do not reach the merits. 10 nation’s aquatic resources). Appellants’ App. at 528, 530. In considering these categories of environmental risks, the Corps distinguished between the activities that it authorized under the nationwide permit (construction, maintenance, and repair of utility lines) and the utility lines’ future operations. If that view was too restrictive, the deficiency would not have been obvious to the Corps, for TransCanada could not begin operations until it submitted a suitable plan to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to address the risk of oil spills. 49 C.F.R. § 194.7 (2012). The environmental groups argue that the risk of oil spills would have been obvious to the Corps because of comments submitted to agencies concerning the proposed Keystone XL project. But these comments would have led the Corps to believe that the risk of oil spills fell within the domain of other agencies, for all of the comments about oil spills had been directed to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (rather than the Corps). See Appellants’ App. at 1180-92. In these comments, no one questioned the Corps’ focus on environmental risks from the activities authorized under the nationwide permits (rather than the environmental risks from future operations). Because the Corps ordinarily confined its environmental assessments to impacts from the activities authorized under the nationwide permit (construction, maintenance, and repair of utility lines), rather than the 11 eventual operation of these utility lines, the risk of oil spills would not have alerted the Corps to an obvious deficiency in its environmental assessment. b. Independent Knowledge of the Risk/Otherwise Brought to the Corps’ Attention The environmental groups also assert the oil-spill issue is not waived because the Corps knew about spill risks when issuing the nationwide permit. We reject this argument. Even if the Corps knew about spill risks, this knowledge would not have prevented a waiver. We have recognized an exception to waiver when an issue is brought to the agency’s attention. See p. 7, above. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has equated this exception and the obviousness exception. See Barnes v. U.S. Dep’t of Transp., 655 F.3d 1124, 1132 (9th Cir. 2011) (“This court has interpreted the ‘so obvious’ standard as requiring that the agency have independent knowledge of the issues that concern petitioners.”). We need not decide whether to adopt the Ninth Circuit’s view, as we have elsewhere concluded that the risk of oil spills would not have created an obvious deficiency in the Corps’ environmental analysis of the construction, maintenance, and repair of utility lines. Even if we were to adopt the Ninth Circuit’s approach, its application here would make little sense. The Corps’ “independent knowledge” would be based on its role as a cooperating agency in the State Department’s 12 environmental impact statement for the Keystone XL Pipeline. This environmental impact statement contained ample discussion of environmental risks involving oil spills. But the environmental impact statement addressed these risks as the domain of a separate agency: the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. See Appellants’ App. at 1990 (“[Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration] is responsible for regulations that require safe operations of hazardous liquid pipelines to protect human health and the environment from unplanned pipeline incidents.”). None of the commenters suggested that the Corps had any responsibility to address the risk of oil spills. We may assume, for the sake of argument, that the Corps knew that issuance of the nationwide permit could lead to installation of oil pipelines, which in turn could create environmental risks from oil spills. How would that knowledge have mattered to the Corps? It considered that risk to fall within another agency’s responsibility. Regardless of whether that view was correct, it went unchallenged in the public comments for the issuance of Nationwide Permit 12 and the State Department’s consideration of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Thus, there would have been little reason for the Corps to consider oil spills in its environmental assessment. In these circumstances, the Corps’ alleged knowledge about oil spills would not have avoided a waiver. 13 3. Cumulative Impacts The environmental groups also argue the Corps violated NEPA by failing to consider the cumulative impacts of oil pipelines. This argument is also waived, as no commenter objected to the Corps’ assessment on this ground. As discussed, parties challenging an agency’s compliance with NEPA must raise relevant objections during the comment period. See p. 7, above. These objections must specifically raise the issue presented on appeal; if the objections do not raise the issue, it is waived. See Ariz. Pub. Serv. Co. v. E.P.A., 562 F.3d 1116, 1127 (10th Cir. 2009) (stating that the appellant could not “rely on general or vague commentary . . . to avoid the established principles of waiver” (citing Appalachian Power Co. v. E.P.A., 251 F.3d 1026, 1036 (D.C. Cir. 2001))). Some commenters mentioned cumulative impacts in other contexts, such as aquatic areas. But no one discussed a need for the Corps to consider the cumulative impacts on dry-land areas. For example, some commenters objected to the use of multiple permits for multiple water crossings associated with one linear project. See Appellants’ App. at 480-81. In the view of these commenters, the use of multiple permits might “prevent the Corps from assessing the [overall] cumulative effects” of one linear project. Id. at 481. Another commenter requested that the Corps apply the half-acre limit to entire linear projects 14 (rather than each water crossing) to ensure the Corps assessed “cumulative effects” of the entire project. Id. at 413. Though these comments used variations of the phrase “cumulative impact,” the commenters were focusing on the cumulative impact on aquatic areas―not dry-land areas. As a result, this objection was waived. See Ariz. Pub. Serv. Co. v. E.P.A., 562 F.3d 1116, 1127 (10th Cir. 2009) (holding that a party could not challenge the rationality of an agency rule because no party had specifically attacked the rule’s rationality during the comment period). 8 4. Summary Accordingly, we conclude that the environmental groups have waived their claims that the Corps violated NEPA by failing to consider oil-spill risks and cumulative impacts of pipelines.