Opinion ID: 3039597
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Reviewable Agency Action

Text: As indicated by Dr. Gipson’s oral announcements, and by the USDA’s defense in this case, it is clear that the agency has decided to abandon the Draft Policy. Thus, with the case in its current posture, plaintiffs cannot seek prospective relief under 5 U.S.C. § 706(1) for the agency’s unreasonable delay in deciding the Draft Policy’s fate. The question remains whether the district court should have reviewed the withdrawal of the Draft Policy as a “final agency action” under the arbitrary and capricious standard of § 706(2).
[9] The APA authorizes federal courts to review a “final agency action,” 5 U.S.C. § 704, to determine if it is “arbitrary, 18758 ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law[.]” 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A). The APA “creates a strong presumption of reviewability that can be rebutted only by a clear showing that judicial review would be inappropriate.” Nat’l Res. Defense Council, Inc. v. Sec. & Exch. Comm’n, 606 F.2d 1031, 1043 (D.C. Cir. 1979) (“NRDC”). The district court determined that it lacked authority to review Dr. Gipson’s statements because they did not amount to “definitive policy statements.” The issue here, however, is whether the USDA’s decision to abandon the Draft Policy, not Dr. Gipson’s statements, is reviewable “final agency action” within the meaning of § 704. The term “agency action” “includes the whole or a part of an agency rule, order, license, sanction, relief, or the equivalent or denial thereof, or failure to act[.]” 5 U.S.C. § 551(13). “[T]he term . . . undoubtedly has a broad sweep[,]” but it “is not so all-encompassing as to authorize [courts] to exercise ‘judicial review [over] everything done by an administrative agency.’ ” Indep. Equip. Dealers Ass’n v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 372 F.3d 420, 427 (D.C. Cir. 2004) (quoting Hearst Radio, Inc. v. FCC, 167 F.2d 225, 227 (D.C. Cir. 1948)). “As a general matter,” two conditions must be satisfied for an agency action to be deemed “final”: First, the action must mark the consummation of the agency’s decisionmaking process . . . — it must not be of a merely tentative or interlocutory nature. And second, the action must be one by which rights or obligations have been determined, or from which legal consequences will flow. Bennett, 520 U.S. at 177-78 (1997) (internal quotations omitted). Put differently, an agency action is “final” if it is “definitive” and has a “direct and immediate . . . effect on the dayto-day business” of the party challenging or subjected to the ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN 18759 action. Fed. Trade Comm’n v. Standard Oil Co., 449 U.S. 232, 239 (1980) (internal quotations omitted). If an agency action is “binding” on the parties it targets, it is likely “final” for the purposes of judicial review. See 5 Jacob A. Stein et al., Administrative Law § 43.01 (2005). [10] “Finality” should be interpreted in a “ ‘flexible and pragmatic way.’ ” Her Majesty the Queen ex rel. Ontario v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 912 F.2d 1525, 1531 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (citing Ciba-Geigy Corp. v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 801 F.2d 430, 435 (D.C. Cir. 1986)). An agency’s refusal to describe an action as final is not dispositive of reviewability. Id. Nor does an agency’s failure to offer a formal statement explaining its action deprive that action of finality. See id. To the contrary, an action may be reviewed, and set aside as arbitrary and capricious, precisely because the agency has failed “to give a reasoned account of its decision.” Fox Tel. Stations, Inc. v. Fed. Communications Comm’n, 280 F.3d 1027, 1045 (D.C. Cir. 2002). Of course, having acted in regard to the “whole or a part of an agency rule, order, license, sanction, relief, or the equivalent or denial thereof,” an agency remains free to engage in further policymaking activity. But the possibility of future agency action is not sufficient to foreclose review of a definitive action. Otherwise, “review could be deferred indefinitely.” Am. Petroleum Inst. v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 906 F.2d 729, 739-40 (D.C. Cir. 1990); see also Fox, 280 F.3d at 1037-38 (rejecting Commission’s argument that action “is not final because the agency intends to continue considering the ownership rules”). The classification of an agency’s statements and declarations into categories of reviewable and non-reviewable pronouncements is an “imprecise” endeavor that requires a “caseby-case” assessment. Indus. Safety Equip. Ass’n v. Envt’l Prot. Agency, 837 F.2d 1115, 1117 (D.C. Cir. 1988). But there is no doubt that the USDA’s abandonment of the Draft 18760 ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN Policy is a consummation of its decisionmaking process. There is nothing interlocutory or tentative about Dr. Gipson’s statements. The availability of judicial review depends on whether this agency action determined rights or obligations or triggered legal consequences.
Policy Statements In the usual case, a court must determine whether an agency’s affirmative act constitutes final agency action for purposes of judicial review. Our task is different, for we must determine whether the USDA’s decision to abandon a course of action is reviewable. We divide our analysis into two parts: First, would the Draft Policy, if adopted, have been reviewable? Second, is the USDA’s decision not to adopt that Draft Policy reviewable?
[11] A reviewable “agency action” includes an “agency rule.” 5 U.S.C. § 551(13). The APA defines “rule” as “the whole or a part of an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy . . . .” 5 U.S.C. § 551(4). Plainly, the Draft Policy is (1) an “agency statement” (2) of “general . . . applicability” and “future effect” (3) designed to “implement” and “interpret” § 3.81 and the AWA. If adopted, it would have constituted a “rule” within the meaning of § 551(4). [12] The term “rule” may embrace “virtually every statement an agency may make,” Avoyelles Sportsmen’s League, Inc. v. Marsh, 715 F.2d 897, 908 (5th Cir. 1983), but not all agency statements are reviewable. Although the distinction among them is “ ‘enshrouded in considerable smog,’ ” Am. Bus Ass’n. v. United States, 627 F.2d 525, 529 (D.C. Cir. 1980) (quoting Noel v. Chapman, 508 F.2d 1023, 1030 (2d ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN 18761 Cir. 1975)), there are essentially three kinds of agency rules: legislative rules, interpretive rules, and policy statements. See Robert A. Anthony, Interpretive Rules, Policy Statements, Guidances, Manuals and the Like — Should Federal Agencies Use Them to Bind the Public?, 41 Duke L.J. 1311, 1315 (1992); see also Attorney General’s Manual on the Administrative Procedure Act 30 n.3 (1947) (“Attorney General’s Manual”). The USDA’s chosen title for the document at issue here — “Draft Policy” — suggests that it falls into the third category. However, “the agency’s own label, while relevant, is not dispositive.” Gen. Motors Corp. v. Ruckelshaus, 742 F.2d 1561, 1565 (D.C. Cir. 1984). More important for classification purposes are the ends the agency document serves and the effects it will have on regulated entities. Legislative rules “create new law, rights or duties,” are promulgated pursuant to an exercise of delegated power, and require a notice-and-comment period. Ruckelshaus, 742 F.2d at 1565; David v. Donovan, 698 F.2d 1057, 1058 (9th Cir. 1983). They indisputably constitute “agency action” and are subject to judicial review, for they determine rights and obligations and have legal consequences. See Gen. Motors Corp. v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 363 F.3d 442, 448 (D.C. Cir. 2004). [13] Interpretive rules, as defined by the 1947 Attorney General’s Manual, are “rules or statements issued by an agency to advise the public of the agency’s construction of the statutes and rules which it administers.” Attorney General’s Manual at 30 n.3. An interpretive rule is issued “to clarify or explain existing law or regulations so as to advise the public of the agency’s construction of the rules it administers.” Gunderson v. Hood, 268 F.3d 1149, 1154 (9th Cir. 2001) (emphasis added). It “spells out a duty fairly encompassed within the regulation that the interpretation purports to construe.” Paralyzed Veterans of Am. v. D.C. Arena L.P., 117 F.3d 579, 588 (D.C. Cir. 1997). [14] Interpretive rules lack formal status as law. See Syncor Int’l Corp. v. Shalala, 127 F.3d 90, 94 (D.C. Cir. 1997). As 18762 ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN a practical matter, however, an interpretive rule may affect the regulatory practices of an agency or the expectations of a regulated entity as to what a law or legislative rule means and how it will be enforced. When an interpretive rule has “a substantial impact on the rights of individuals[,]” its promulgation may constitute final agency action for the purposes of judicial review. Am. Postal Workers Union v. U.S. Postal Serv., 707 F.2d 548, 560 (D.C. Cir. 1983); see also Nat’l Ass’n of Home Builders v. Norton, 415 F.3d 8, 15 (D.C. Cir. 2005) (“Finality resulting from the practical effect of an ostensibly non-binding agency proclamation is a concept [courts] have recognized in the past.”). We and our sister circuits have construed interpretive rules to be judicially reviewable. See, e.g., US West Communications, Inc. v. Hamilton, 224 F.3d 1049, 1055 (9th Cir. 2000) (observing that “[w]hat scant case law there is suggests that [reviewable] ‘final orders’ include both interpretive and legislative orders”); Star Enter. v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 235 F.3d 139, 146 (3d Cir. 2000) (describing standard of review for interpretive rule). Cf. Martin v. Occupational Safety & Health Review Comm’n, 499 U.S. 144, 157 (1991) (observing that interpretive rules are “entitled to some weight on judicial review”). Finally, “general statements of policy” are “statements issued by an agency to advise the public prospectively of the manner in which the agency proposes to exercise a discretionary power.” Attorney General’s Manual 30 at n.3. In other words, they may tell the public how the agency plans to exercise its enforcement discretion. A policy statement is intended “to allow agencies to announce their tentative intentions for the future . . . without binding themselves.” Am. Hosp. Ass’n v. Bowen, 834 F.2d 1037, 1046 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (internal quotation omitted) (emphasis added); see also Guardian Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n v. Fed. Sav. & Loan Ins. Corp., 589 F.2d 658, 666 (D.C. Cir. 1978) (“A general statement of policy . . . does not establish a binding norm. It is not finally determinative of the issues or rights to which it is addressed.”) (internal quotations omitted). “[T]he agency retains the discretion and ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN 18763 the authority to change its position — even abruptly — in any specific case because a change in its policy does not effect the legal norm.” Syncor, 127 F.3d at 94. General statements of policy are tentative in character: the agency, having announced how it plans to exercise its enforcement discretion, may nonetheless change course in any particular case. This tentative character generally renders general statements of policy insufficiently final or definitive to permit judicial review. Hence, a “typical policy statement” is “not reviewable at all.” Tozzi, 271 F.3d at 312 (Silberman, J., concurring); see also Indus. Safety Equip., 837 F.2d at 1119 n.8 (“Discretionary agency positions are generally best not tested on review until the policy is actually applied . . . .”); Office of Communication of United Church of Christ v. Fed. Communications Comm’n, 826 F.2d 101, 105-06 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (nonbinding, prospective quality of policy statement makes it unripe for judicial review). The Draft Policy, if finalized, would not have amounted to a legislative rule. Its purpose — merely to “clarify” existing obligations prescribed by the AWA and § 3.81 — is the most obvious evidence to this effect. 64 Fed. Reg. at 38146. The Draft Policy would have added considerable detail to § 3.81, but it would not have announced any new requirements for regulated entities. To the contrary, even if the Draft Policy were adopted, a regulated entity could still comply with § 3.81 without following its specific recommendations for conditions of captivity. [15] But neither would the finalized Draft Policy have been a general policy statement — that is, a tentative declaration of how the USDA might have enforced § 3.81 and the AWA. Rather, it is best characterized as a proposed interpretive rule. The Draft Policy would have summarized “what the [USDA] believe[d] must be considered and included” in an environmental enhancement plan. 64 Fed. Reg. at 38146 (emphasis added). It would have provided categorically that entities that 18764 ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN follow the specific terms of its safe harbor “will meet the requirements of § 3.81.” Id. at 38146 (emphasis added). Compare Am. Bus Ass’n, 627 F.2d at 532 (use of “will” indicates statement is a binding norm), with Guardian Fed., 589 F.2d at 666 (use of term “may” indicates statement is a “general statement of policy”). Such safe harbors, which offer regulated entities a guaranteed way to protect themselves from adverse enforcement, have legal consequence. See Gen. Elec. Co. v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 290 F.3d 377, 383 (D.C. Cir. 2002) (“ ‘In some circumstances, if the language of the document is such that private parties can rely on it as a norm or safe harbor by which to shape their actions, it can be binding as a practical matter.’ ”) (quoting Anthony, Interpretive Rules, 41 Duke L.J. at 1329) (emphasis added); Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Fed. Energy Admin., 556 F.2d 542, 552 (T.E.C.A. 1977) (observing that an agency document that lacks formally binding effect “may have extremely important consequences with respect to the issue of good faith reliance for future acts” and therefore constitute “final agency action”). [16] In short, the USDA would have bound itself to a particular interpretation of § 3.81 for enforcement purposes had it adopted the Draft Policy. Such restrictions on an agency’s regulatory discretion are features of interpretive rules, not general policy statements. See Syncor, 127 F.3d at 94 (“The primary distinction between . . . any rule . . . and a general statement of policy, then, turns on whether an agency intends to bind itself to a particular legal position.”). [17] We conclude that the Draft Policy, if adopted, would have been judicially reviewable as an interpretive rule from which legal consequence flowed. Our conclusion is buttressed by the Draft Policy’s publication in the Federal Register, and the fact that the USDA opened a public comment period for it. Both of these procedural attributes would have strengthened the Draft Policy’s claim to binding authority had it been adopted. See Molycorp, Inc. v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 197 F.3d 543, 545 (D.C. Cir. 1999); Rank v. Nimmo, 677 F.2d 692, 698 ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN 18765 (9th Cir. 1982). Moreover, a record assembled through a notice-and-comment period enables judicial review by providing courts with materials necessary to evaluate the rule’s sufficiency. See Int’l Union, UMW v. Mine Safety & Health Admin., 407 F.3d 1250, 1259 (D.C. Cir. 2005). 2. Reviewability of the Withdrawal of the Draft Policy We now turn to the second part of our inquiry — whether the USDA’s abandonment of the Draft Policy is judicially reviewable. This part of the inquiry raises two interrelated questions. First, did the abandonment of a Draft Policy have legal consequences or determine rights or obligations? Second, does it make a difference that the USDA had no legal obligation to propose or adopt the Draft Policy in the first place? a. Legal Consequences or Determination of Rights or Obligations [18] The abandonment of a proposed rule such as the Draft Policy leaves the status quo in place. But maintaining the status quo has legal consequences. Our decision in Defenders of Wildlife v. Norton, 258 F.3d 1136 (9th Cir. 2001), illustrates this point. The Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) requires that the Secretary of the Interior designate as “endangered” or “threatened” any species at risk of extinction. 16 U.S.C. § 1532(6). The Secretary withdrew a proposed rule that would have designated the flat-tailed horned lizard an endangered species, thereby leaving the status quo undisturbed. 258 F.3d at 1138-39. The consequences of leaving the status quo undisturbed were obvious. Because it denied the flat-tailed horned lizard the protections afforded to endangered species by the ESA, the Secretary’s decision, if incorrect, exposed the lizard to risk of extinction. We therefore reviewed the Secretary’s decision. It is clear that the Draft Policy would have determined rights and obligations of the regulated entities. A regulated 18766 ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN entity in doubt about its obligations under § 3.81 and the AWA would have known, after the adoption of the Draft Policy, precisely what it could have done to ensure that it fulfilled its obligations. Compliance with the safe harbor requirements would have protected against adverse enforcement actions by the USDA. Indeed, as we have been told by the intervenor NABR, the Draft Policy would have had the practical consequence of strongly encouraging, perhaps even requiring, regulated entities to comply with its terms. Thus, it clearly would have had a legal consequence if adopted. [19] The converse is also true. Without the Draft Policy, there is no safe harbor. As the Final Report indicated, the practical effect is that regulated entities have little incentive to change their behavior. Because the abandonment of the Draft Policy means that regulated entities will not change their behavior, the status quo remains undisturbed. The consequence is that harm to chimpanzees like Terry continues, and aesthetic injury to individuals like Buchanan also continues. Of course, the USDA may promulgate other Draft Policies in the future, as Dr. Gipson has suggested in his declaration it intends to do. For now, however, the agency’s last word is that the Draft Policy is not necessary, with the effect that the Draft Policy has been abandoned, and that the status quo remains unchanged. See Fox, 280 F.3d at 1038. b. USDA Had No Obligation to Act in the First Place The conclusion that the failure to adopt the Draft Policy had legal consequence is not necessarily the end of the inquiry. The USDA relies on the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Glickman II, which held that § 3.81 adequately discharged the USDA’s rulemaking obligation under the AWA. Because it had no statutory duty to propose the Draft Policy in the first place, the USDA argues, its decision to abandon the policy is unreviewable. We disagree. ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN 18767 We do not question the conclusion of the D.C. Circuit in Glickman I. Because § 3.81 passed muster standing on its own, the USDA’s decision to propose the Draft Policy was not compelled by the AWA. “An agency’s discretionary decision not to regulate a given activity is inevitably based, in large measure, on factors not inherently susceptible to judicial resolution, e.g., internal management considerations as to budget and personnel; evaluations of its own competence; weighing of competing policies within a broad statutory framework.” NRDC, 606 F.2d at 1046. Moreover, “even if an agency considers a particular problem worthy of regulation, it may determine for reasons lying within its special expertise that the time for action has not yet arrived.” Id. Judicial second-guessing of such decisions triggers concerns of overreaching, particularly when the agency has already deemed the regulation unworthy of adoption. Id. at 1045. [20] Nonetheless, courts have reviewed, albeit highly deferentially, the withdrawal of proposed rules like the Draft Policy. An example is Center for Auto Safety v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 710 F.2d 842 (D.C. Cir. 1983). A statute provided that the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) “ ‘may by rule . . . amend the average fuel economy standard . . . to a level which [it] determines is the maximum feasible average fuel economy level . . . .’ ” Id. at 844 (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 2002(a)(4)) (emphasis added). The agency refused to finalize a proposed regulation that would have tightened fuel economy standards for certain cars. Noting the reasons the NHTSA gave for withdrawing its proposed regulation, the court concluded that [t]hese statements accompanying the withdrawal of the [proposed rule] clearly interpret the relevant statute and indicate NHTSA’s policy regarding the exercise of discretion granted to it by that legislative enactment. Given our prior decisions construing the Administrative Procedure Act’s broad definition of “rule,” we are compelled to conclude that NHTSA 18768 ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN has prescribed a rule sufficient to grant this court jurisdiction . . . . Id. at 846. In other words, the retreat to the status quo as the agency’s policy was reviewable, even though the statute at issue, by using the term “may,” allowed the agency the choice whether to engage in rulemaking in the first place. The D.C. Circuit’s decision in Professional Drivers Council v. Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety, 706 F.2d 1216 (D.C. Cir. 1983), is also instructive. There, the agency withdrew a proposed amendment to an existing rule that specified hoursof-service requirements for commercial truck drivers. The decision to withdraw the proposed rule did not take place against a legal obligation to act: This is not a situation where the agency has shirked its statutory duty by refusing to regulate. The agency has regulated the field. In this instance, the agency’s statutory authority to regulate is permissive. The statute provides that the agency “may establish reasonable requirements.” The permissive nature of the statute implies broad agency discretion in selecting the appropriate manner of regulation. Id. at 1221. The D.C. Circuit recognized the limited scope of judicial inquiry into this sort of agency decisionmaking: The circumscribed scope of this review is dictated by both the nature of the administrative proceeding (informal rulemaking) and by the nature of the ultimate decision (not to promulgate rules). The record in an informal rulemaking proceeding is a less than fertile ground for judicial review . . . . Furthermore, rulemaking is an inherently policy-oriented process and the agency must be accorded considerable deference in evaluating information presented and reaching decisions based upon its expertise. Our review is ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN 18769 also circumscribed by the fact that the agency decided not to promulgate new rules in an area already heavily regulated. Id. at 1220-21 (internal quotation omitted) (emphasis added). Nonetheless, the court in the end reaffirmed its authority to exercise judicial review. It gave effect to the agency’s interest in having relatively unfettered power to decide whether to adopt rules not by abandoning its reviewing authority altogether but by exercising a highly deferential standard of review. See id. Finally, International Union, United Mine Workers of America v. United States Department of Labor demonstrates that once an agency has embarked on a course of action, even a discretionary course of action, a court may review the agency’s failure to explain its subsequent abandonment of that course of action. There, the D.C. Circuit reviewed the withdrawal of a proposed Air Quality rule by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) after a public hearing and comment period. 358 F.3d at 41-42. The D.C. Circuit explained that while the MSHA was under no obligation to adopt the proposed rule, “or, for that matter, any rule,” it was not “free to terminate the rulemaking for no reason whatsoever.” Id. at 43-44 (quotation marks omitted). The D.C. Circuit reviewed the withdrawal of the proposed rule under the APA’s “deferential ‘arbitrary and capricious’ standard,” stating that it would “give more deference to an agency’s decision to withdraw a proposed rule than we give to its decision to promulgate a new rule or to rescind an existing one.” Id. at 43. Despite this heightened deference, the D.C. Circuit held that the withdrawal was arbitrary and capricious because the MSHA’s explanations — that “there was a ‘change in agency priorities,’ ” the record was stale, and a recent Eleventh Circuit opinion cast doubt on the proposed rule — were inadequate. Id. at 44-45. [21] The D.C. Circuit has offered two helpful criteria to determine when the withdrawal of a voluntarily proposed rule 18770 ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN may be amenable to at least a “minimal level of judicial scrutiny.” NRDC, 606 F.2d at 1047. The agency must have “held a rulemaking proceeding,” and it must have “compiled a record narrowly focused on the particular rules suggested but not adopted.” Id. In NRDC, the D.C. Circuit explained that the concern that a court may improperly oblige an agency to spend resources defending a withdrawn rule is diminished when the agency has undertaken extensive rulemaking proceedings before it abandons a proposed rule. Id. at 1045-46. Such activity “evidences [the agency’s] view that the proposals are sufficiently meritorious to warrant further investigation . . . .” Id. at 1046. Having solicited public participation, the prospect of judicial review would also force the agency to give due regard to citizen input. Id. Moreover, concerns over a court’s lack of institutional competence are lessened to the degree that the pre-withdrawal rulemaking proceeding has been extensive and has thereby provided more data to the reviewing court. Id. at 1047. In essence, the criteria help to distinguish between two classes of cases, one ordinarily reviewable and the other not reviewable. In the first class, an agency undertakes an action — for example, promulgation of a Draft Policy — but subsequently changes course and abandons that action. Properly applied, the criteria ensure that a sufficient record exists for a court to identify a discrete change of course, and to review the change of course to determine whether it was arbitrary and capricious. Id. at 1046-47; see also Fox, 280 F.3d at 1037 (“There is no question [an agency] determination not to repeal or to modify a rule, after giving notice of and receiving comment upon a proposal to do so, is a final agency action subject to judicial review.”). In the second class of cases, an agency simply declines to take any action at all. Absent a particular statutory mandate that the agency act, these cases are considered presumptively unreviewable in part because courts lack a “focus for judicial review . . . to determine whether the agency exceeded its statANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN 18771 utory powers.” Heckler v. Chaney, 470 U.S. 821, 832 (1985); see also id. at 834, 838. Courts have no means to choose between the “infinite number of rules that an agency could adopt in its discretion,” NRDC, 606 F.2d at 1046, other than undertaking the “complicated balancing of a number of factors” ordinarily considered to be “peculiarly within [the agency’s] expertise.” Chaney, 470 U.S. at 831. The D.C. Circuit’s analysis in NRDC is fully consistent with the Supreme Court’s later decision in Chaney, for NRDC concerned an abandonment of a course of action whereas Chaney concerned a mere failure to act. [22] We endorse and apply the D.C. Circuit’s criteria in NRDC. Both are satisfied here, and thus this case falls within the class of reviewable cases. The USDA gave notice by publishing the Draft Policy in the Federal Register on July 15, 1999, and it solicited comments from the public. Plaintiffs allege that, by the time the comment period ended on October 13, 1999, see 66 Fed. Reg. 61327, 61364 (Dec. 3, 2001), the agency had received more than 200 sets of comments. Moreover, the comments solicited were to address the “content of the draft policy,” and thus focused narrowly on the proposed rule. 64 Fed. Reg. at 38147.
[23] The USDA’s decision to abandon the Draft Policy is definitive and final. By leaving the status quo in place, the USDA gives regulated entities no incentive to adopt environmental enhancement plans that comply with a set of standards the agency at one time deemed “necessary” for the effective implementation of § 3.81. The USDA held rulemaking proceedings before it abandoned the Draft Policy and therefore assembled a record amenable to judicial review. We therefore conclude that the abandonment of the Draft Policy constitutes a final agency action for the purposes of § 706(2). 18772 ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE v. VENEMAN