Opinion ID: 158856
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Fitness of the issues for judicial review

Text: 10 A vital aspect of the requirement that issues be fit for review is that the suit challenge final agency action. See, e.g., Mobil Exploration, 180 F.3d at 1197 (citing APA, 5 U.S.C. § 704, and Abbott Labs., 387 U.S. at 149-54). Although the RNA designation at issue here is deemed a final administrative action by regulation, see 36 C.F.R. § 217.17(g), it is nevertheless still subject to agency activity with regard to Park Lake's mining activities. 11 It is important to note that mining activities may occur on RNA land. See 36 C.F.R. §§ 251.23, 251.50. Anyone wishing to conduct mining activities on any national forest land which will likely cause a significant disturbance of surface resources must first file a proposed plan of operations with the Forest Service. 36 C.F.R. § 228.4(a). Park Lake has not yet submitted a proposed plan of operations, claiming that it attempted to do so but the district ranger would not accept it while this litigation was in progress. 12 The Forest Service has several alternatives available to it when faced with a proposed plan of operations for mining activities conducted on RNA land. See 36 C.F.R. § 228.5; Supp. App. of Fed. Aplee. at 76 (Forest Service Manual, Standards and Policy Guidelines for RNAs). Once presented with Park Lake's proposed plan of operations, the Forest Service may approve it, may require modification, or may even modify or withdraw the RNA designation. 2 Moreover, the Forest Service may restrict Park Lake's mining activities for reasons unrelated to the fact that the mining claim is on RNA land. 13 Disregarding the land's RNA designation, the Forest Service has a plethora of statutory and regulatory provisions governing national forests upon which it might rely when and if it requires modifications prior to its aproval of Park Lake's plan of operations. See, e.g., 16 U.S.C. § 551 (Forest Service must protect national forest land from destruction and depredation); 16 U.S.C. § 478 (miners must comply with rules and regulations covering national forests); 16 U.S.C. § 1604(i) (permits relating to use and occupancy of national forest system lands must be consistent with the land management plan for that specific forest); 36 C.F.R. § 228.4(f) (mining operations may require environmental analysis considering varying environmental impacts); 36 C.F.R. § 228.5 (Forest Service may require changes in plan necessary to meet the purpose of the regulations in this part); 36 C.F.R. § 228.8 (mining operations on forest land must be conducted to minimize adverse environmental impacts); 36 C.F.R. § 228.12 (when reviewing means of access to mining claims in proposed plans, Forest Service must specify all conditions reasonably necessary to protect the environment and forest surface resouces). See generally Joel A. Ferre, Forest Service Regulations Governing Mining: Ecosystem Preservation versus Economically Feasible Mining in the National Forests, 15 J. Energy Nat. Resources & Envtl. L. 351 (1995). Indeed, the Forest Service has relied on these provisions, as well as many other considerations, in a variety of cases where it restricted mining activities on national forest land. See, e.g., Duncan Energy Co. v. United States Forest Service, 50 F.3d 584, 586 (8th Cir. 1995) (Forest Service required conditions and protective measures on proposed plan of mining operations citing requirements of National Environmental Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. § 551, and 36 C.F.R. § 251.50(a)); Clouser v. Espy, 42 F.3d 1522, 1529-30, 1533-36 (9th Cir. 1994) (Forest Service regulated means of access to mining claims on national forest citing its authority under 16 U.S.C. § 251 and 16 U.S.C. § 478; declined to review mining plan of operations until BLM determined claim's validity citing agency rule in Forest Service Manual; required modifications prior to approval of mining plan of operations citing its authority under 36 C.F.R. § 228.5(a)); United States v. Weiss, 642 F.2d 296, 298 (9th Cir. 1981) (Forest Service has power to regulate mining operations on national forest land under 16 U.S.C. §§ 478 and 551); United States v. Richardson, 599 F.2d 290, 292 (9th Cir. 1979) (Forest Service sought injunction of mining operations on forest land causing unwarranted surface destruction under 30 U.S.C. § 612); Baker v. United States Dep't of Agriculture, 928 F. Supp. 1513, 1515 (D. Idaho 1996) (Forest Service required restrictions on mining operations plan citing requirements of Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act). Thus, any attempt to foresee which specific regulation or statute the Forest Service might rely upon when reviewing Park Lake's plan is an exercise in speculative gymnastics. 14 Generally, the Forest Service's review of proposed plans of operation for mining activities is guided by the specific management plan for that forest area. See 16 U.S.C. § 1604(i). The two forest management plans covering the Hoosier Ridge area have been amended to provide for management of the RNA at issue here. See Aplt. App. at 196. Although neither plan is in the record, it is apparent that these plans will guide Forest Service management of the Hoosier Ridge RNA and will affect the review and approval of any proposed plan of mining operations. 15 Park Lake's claim is thus similar to that of the Sierra Club in Ohio Forestry, 523 U.S. at 728 (challenge to Forest Service's management plan guiding all natural resource management activities in a national forest). In Ohio Forestry, the Sierra Club challenged a Forest Service land resource management plan on the ground that it allowed excessive logging and clear cutting. The Court pointed out that the Forest Service had to take further site-specific action using the forest plan as a management device once faced with proposed logging activities. See id. at 734 (before any logging could be allowed, Forest Service had to focus on a particular site, propose a specific harvesting method, prepare an environmental review, permit the public an opportunity to be heard, and (if challenged) justify the proposal in court). The Court noted that the agency could revise the management plan in response to site-specific proposals and that those revisions might negate the Sierra Club's claimed injuries. See id. at 735-36. The Court therefore held the issue not ripe for review from either the agency's or the court's perspective. 16 Just as with the Forest Service guidelines for RNAs, the regulations at issue in Ohio Forestry required the Forest Service to revise the forest plan during implementation as appropriate. See id. at 735; cf. Supp. App. of Fed. Aplee. at 76 (Standards and Policy Guidelines for RNAs, Standard 4.3.2). The fundamental similarities between these two cases convince us the issue here is similarly not fit for review. See also Texas v. United States, 523 U.S. 296, 300 (1998) (claim not ripe if it rests upon contingent future events that may not occur as anticipated, or indeed may not occur at all); Yeutter, 911 F.2d at 1420 (adjudication should be postponed where harm and justification for action are both contingent on future administrative action). 17