Opinion ID: 791645
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Alternatives to section 7 consultation

Text: 115 The Biological Opinion notes state and federal endangered species protections that exist without section 7 consultation, including: (1) the Memorandum of Agreement between the EPA and FWS, EPA oversight over ADEQ; (2) the Endangered Species Act's anti-take provisions; and (3) Arizona state law. The EPA relies on these protections as sufficient to assure against jeopardizing listed species. None of these protections, however, are sufficient substitutes for section 7's consultation and mitigation mandates.
116 The Memorandum of Agreement provides the closest substitute for the provisions of section 7. It cannot, however, replace section 7, because it does not grant the federal government any authority to require Arizona to engage in the kind of consultation and mitigation measures EPA had conducted before the transfer. 117 Under the Memorandum, the EPA will review ADEQ permits and identify those that may raise issues regarding listed species. 66 Fed.Reg. 11,202, 11,216 (Feb. 22, 2001). For projects posing a significant threat to listed species, the FWS will work with the State . . . to reduce the detrimental effects stemming from the permit. Id. The FWS, however, has no statutory authority to mandate that the state revise any problematic permits, nor does the EPA. In contrast, all federal agencies have a duty, in consultation with the FWS, to ensure that their actions are not likely to jeopardize any listed species or their designated habitat. § 1536(a)(2). 118 The Memorandum also provides that the EPA will use the full extent of its CWA [Clean Water Act] authority to object to a State . . . permit where EPA finds . . . that a State . . . permit is likely to jeopardize listed species. 66 Fed.Reg. at 11,216. However, the Clean Water Act does not grant the EPA authority to make pollution permitting transfer decisions for the benefit of all endangered species; the EPA has that authority only when one also considers the Endangered Species Act. 23 As a result, Endangered Species Act concerns raised by a permit are cognizable under the Clean Water Act only fortuitously, if at all. Unless the EPA is willing to use the authority granted by section 7 in addition to that accorded by the Clean Water Act, the EPA's ability to object to permits and thereby conserve listed species will be quite limited. 119 In sum, the Memorandum calls for the EPA and the FWS to discuss listed species matters with ADEQ, but relies on ADEQ voluntarily to cooperate with those federal agencies. We assume that ADEQ will consider any listed species issues raised in good faith. Nothing in the record, however, indicates that ADEQ even has authority under state law to require permit applicants to protect listed species. Section 7 thus provides protection for species that reliance on purely voluntary action by the state cannot supply.
120 For similar reasons, EPA oversight under 33 U.S.C. § 1342(c) provides a weak substitute for section 7 consultation. Such oversight relates to different substantive standards — those of the Clean Water Act, rather than the Endangered Species Act. The Clean Water Act standards governing permitting decisions will not directly relate to protection of most — if any — listed species, and so cannot substitute for section 7 coverage.
121 The Endangered Species Act makes it a crime to take any species listed as endangered, defining take as harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. 16 U.S.C. § 1538(a); 16 U.S.C. § 1532(19). The Supreme Court has upheld regulations that define take to include any act which actually kills or injures wildlife, where such acts may include significant . . . modification or degradation of listed species' habitat. 24 See Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter of Cmties. for a Great Or., 515 U.S. 687, 691, 115 S.Ct. 2407, 132 L.Ed.2d 597 (1995) (upholding 50 C.F.R. § 17.3). Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act creates an incidental take permit program pursuant to which the Secretary of Interior may grant permits for activity — such as some construction projects — that may incidentally take an endangered species specimen, so long as the permittee sufficiently mitigates the risk of a take. See 16 U.S.C. § 1539. These anti-take provisions apply to all actors, not only the federal government. § 1538(a)(1). Accordingly, private developers are subject to sections 9 and 10 regardless of whether the EPA or a state government issues the developers' water pollution permits. 122 Sections 9 and 10 are important provisions, but they are not substitutes for section 7 coverage. Section 7 covers any federal agency action that could threaten species or their critical habitat. While the anti-take provisions prohibit [e]liminating a threatened species' habitat, Envtl. Prot. Info. Ctr., 255 F.3d at 1075, or significant . . . modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife, 50 C.F.R. § 17.3, the effectiveness of these prohibitions depends on their enforcement by the appropriate authorities. [T]he Government cannot enforce the § 9 prohibition until an animal has actually been killed or injured. Sweet Home, 515 U.S. at 703, 115 S.Ct. 2407. Accordingly, after-the-fact enforcement cannot prevent threats to listed species the way section 7 can. Prevention of takings may come from the section 10 permitting process, but private parties choose whether to pursue a section 10 incidental take permit. Defenders of Wildlife v. Bernal, 204 F.3d 920, 927 (9th Cir.2000). Private parties only have an incentive to do so if there is a meaningful threat of section 9 enforcement. 123 On this record, there is no indication that section 9 is or will be enforced meaningfully enough to provide a sufficient substitute for section 7. The record reflects no instances in which FWS has initiated a section 9 enforcement action with regard to listed species in Arizona. Additionally, FWS staff stated in the Interagency Elevation Document that they did not believe that section 9 enforcement is an acceptable substitute for section 7 consultation. This opinion reflected staff concerns, expressed in internal emails, that section 9 is ill-suited to protect species such as the pygmy owl, whose numbers are so low that section 9 enforcement may come too late to prevent extinction. The Biological Opinion contains no indication the FWS will increase section 9 enforcement nor any other analysis alleviating FWS staff concerns. The absence of record evidence of section 9 enforcement is confirmed by our own research, which reveals public notices regarding only two applications for incidental take permits for projects occurring in Arizona since January 1, 2001. See 69 Fed.Reg. 75,556 (Dec. 17, 2004); 69 Fed.Reg. 15,362 (Mar. 25, 2004). Compared to the large number of construction projects in the state, this low number suggests that developers do not feel that section 9 enforcement is sufficiently likely for them to apply for section 10 permits.
124 The Biological Opinion notes one Arizona law that prohibits the taking of native plants — which, the Opinion notes, includes endangered or threatened plants — from any land within the state without following certain procedures. See Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 3-904. The Opinion implies that this law partially fills a gap left open by the Endangered Species Act, which limits the taking of endangered plants on federal land only, not all land. See 16 U.S.C. § 1538(a)(2)(B). 125 The Arizona statute, however, is not an adequate substitute for section 7(a)(2)'s limitation on granting permits that could jeopardize listed species. As the Biological Opinion notes, the Arizona statute merely requires private landowners to notify a state agency of plans to destroy certain plants on their property and regulates when that destruction may take place. See Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 3-904. It does not prohibit such destruction, or set standards to be taken into account in the issuance of water pollution permits. The Biological Opinion does not discuss the standards that govern Arizona's regulation of native plant takes, and does not indicate that Arizona considers the listed status of plants for federal purposes in granting native plant take permits. 126 In sum, the Biological Opinion fails to provide a reasoned explanation concerning why Arizona's native plant law adequately substitutes for section 7, even for plants. As it obviously does not do so for animals, § 3-904 is no substitute for section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act.