Opinion ID: 779762
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Purported Exclusion By Informal Correspondence From The EPA

Text: 48 Next, the Forest Service points to two one-paragraph letters written by the EPA (in response to Forest Service requests) and a brief passage in an EPA guidance document that indicate that no NPDES permit is required for this aerial spraying project. These documents do not help the Forest Service. To the extent that these documents purport to show that the Forest Service's interpretation of the regulation is permissible because the statute itself would allow such an interpretation, they are not due any deference. The weight accorded documents of this type when advanced for the purpose of statutory interpretation will depend upon the thoroughness evident in its consideration, the validity of its reasoning, its consistency with earlier and later pronouncements, and all those factors which give it power to persuade, if lacking power to control. Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134, 140, 65 S.Ct. 161, 89 L.Ed. 124 (1944). The Supreme Court has recently reaffirmed the holding in Skidmore, stating that interpretations contained in formats such as opinion letters are `entitled to respect' under our decision [in Skidmore ], but only to the extent that those interpretations have the `power to persuade.' Christensen v. Harris County, 529 U.S. 576, 587, 120 S.Ct. 1655, 146 L.Ed.2d 621 (2000) (quoting Skidmore, 323 U.S. at 140, 65 S.Ct. 161). 49 The two letters have very little power to persuade. They provide no analysis and do not even mention the regulation that the Forest Service relies on. The guidance document, dated March 29, 2002, is not a guidance document for silvicultural activities. Rather its subject line states that it concerns an exemption from the Clean Water Act for Return Flows from Irrigated Agriculture. In the middle of the guidance document is a paragraph which refers to the regulation now before us and pronounces EPA's longstanding interpretation of `point source' with respect to silvicultural activities. EPA regulations exclude from NPDES permit requirements `nonpoint source silvicultural activities such as ... pest and fire control...' 40 CFR 122.27. The guidance document then cites the decision of the district court in this case. 50 We are unable to discern any connection between the references in the guidance document to this case, which was pending before this panel at the time the guidance document was issued, and the content of the balance of the five pages of the guidance document. The exemption for return flows from irrigated agriculture, unlike the issue now before us, is a statutory exemption not an exclusion purportedly bestowed by regulatory interpretation. 33 U.S.C. § 1342( l )(1). Unlike the balance of the document, which carefully analyzes the statutory exemption for agricultural return flows, including references to the legislative history, the function of the exemption, and the need for parity of regulation between irrigated and non-irrigated agriculture, there is no analysis of the purported exclusion for silvicultural pest control. Indeed, the guidance document provides a good example of persuasive analysis under the Skidmore test with respect to agricultural return flows. The fact that such analysis is entirely lacking with respect to silvicultural pest control activities is glaring in its omission. 51 An agency's interpretation of its own regulations, as opposed to its interpretation of statutes, is due deference and does not necessarily implicate the Skidmore test. Auer, 519 U.S. at 461-62, 117 S.Ct. 905, 137 L.Ed.2d 79. See also Christensen, 529 U.S. at 587-88, 120 S.Ct. 1655 (providing example of difference between Auer deference for regulatory interpretation and Skidmore deference for statutory interpretation). However, Auer deference is appropriate where the agency's interpretation of its regulation is based on a permissible construction of the [governing] statute. Auer, 519 U.S. at 457, 117 S.Ct. 905 (quoting Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842-43, 104 S.Ct. 2778). An agency simply may not interpret a regulation in a way that contravenes a statute. Furthermore, these post hoc informal documents provide no rebuttal to the contemporaneous explanation of the regulation published through notice and comment rule making in the Federal Register. 52