Opinion ID: 179768
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Beneficial Impact

Text: Plaintiffs first argue that NMFS's finding of significance under the MMPA in essence compels a finding of significance under NEPA. According to plaintiffs, NMFS's determination under the MMPA that sea lions are having a significant negative impact on the decline or recovery of listed salmonid populations necessarily implies that the environmental benefits of authorizing the lethal removal of sea lions will have a significant positive impact on these salmonid populations. They contend that this significant beneficial environmental impact triggers the duty to prepare an EIS under NEPA. As a threshold matter, plaintiffs' argument appears to raise an issue of first impression in this circuit: whether NEPA requires an agency to prepare an EIS when an action has a significant beneficial impact but no significant adverse impact on the environment. [9] This is a question we need not resolve, however, because even if solely beneficial impacts trigger an EIS, the record does not demonstrate a significant beneficial impact on the human environment in this instance. First, just because NMFS has concluded that sea lions are having a significant negative impact on listed salmonid populations does not mean that the agency has also determined that the removal action authorized here will have a significant positive impact on these same populations. Second, even if NMFS concluded that its action would have a significant positive impact on the fish populations involved, that would not necessarily translate into a finding of a significant effect on the quality of the human environment, as required by NEPA: although both statutes speak of significance, the legal standards under the MMPA and NEPA are distinct. [10]