Opinion ID: 183027
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Environmental enforcement on public rangelands

Text: The 1995 Regulations required the BLM to take corrective actions upon finding either a violation of the Fundamentals of Rangeland Health [3] ecological criteria that, pursuant to the 1995 Regulations, all public lands had to meetor the Standards and Guidelines for Grazing Administration (Standards and Guidelines). 43 C.F.R. §§ 4180.1, 4180.2(c) (1995). The 2006 Regulations eliminate the Fundamentals of Rangeland Health, leaving only the Standards and Guidelines as enforceable standards. 43 C.F.R. § 4180.2(c)(1). Upon discovery of a violation of either the Fundamentals of Rangeland Health or the Standards and Guidelines, the 1995 Regulations required the BLM to take corrective action as soon as practicable but not later than the start of the next grazing year. 43 C.F.R. § 4180.1 (1995). The 2006 Regulations extend the time for the BLM to take corrective measures to 24 months. 43 C.F.R. § 4180.2(c)(1)(i). The 2006 Regulations also increase the amount of monitoring required before the BLM can enforce the Standards and Guidelines. Prior to initiating an enforcement proceeding, the 2006 Regulations require that the BLM gather baseline monitoring data to determine that existing grazing management practices or levels of grazing use on public lands are significant factors in failing to achieve the standards and conform with the guidelines and only multi-year BLM data (not all available data as provided in the 1995 Regulations) may be considered. Id. § 4180.2(c)(1). In short, under the 2006 Regulations, the BLM cannot rely upon other sources for data and must gather monitoring data for each allotment prior to determining whether a rancher has violated the Standards and Guidelines and initiating corrective measures. The 2006 Regulations also include a novel phase-in provision whereby the BLM is required to phase-in grazing reductions of over ten percent over a five-year period. Id. § 4110.3-3(a)(1).