Opinion ID: 4541138
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Consideration of Cumulative Impacts

Text: Because we hold 16 U.S.C. § 6591b does not mandate extraordinary circumstances review, we need not address Wild Watershed’s arguments with respect to the alleged insufficiencies of that review. See Wyoming, 661 F.3d at 1239 (noting the longstanding rule that as long as agencies “compl[y] with the statutory and regulatory minima, absent ‘extremely compelling circumstances,’ a reviewing court generally may not overturn an agency decision for failure to provide additional procedure”). Under this logic, the district court declined to consider Wild Watershed’s claims with respect to cumulative impacts and impacts to inventoried roadless areas. 11 We agree with respect to inventoried roadless areas, but find more is required before dismissing Wild Watershed’s claims with respect to cumulative impacts. Wild Watershed argues consideration of cumulative impacts is required not only as a subcomponent of extraordinary circumstances review, but also independently by HFRA’s “scoping” requirement and certain Forest Service regulations. See Aplt. Br. at 16. We have rejected the former contention, but not 11 The district court is not alone in this approach. See Marten, 2018 WL 6046472, at  (similarly dismissing cumulative impacts arguments based on its conclusion that HFRA did not mandate extraordinary circumstances review). -20- yet addressed the latter—whether HFRA’s “scoping” requirement and certain Forest Service regulations independently require consideration of potential cumulative impacts. While the parties argue this point in the briefing, we need not definitively resolve it. Assuming, without deciding, that the Forest Service was required under 16 U.S.C. § 6591b to consider the potential cumulative impacts of the projects, we nonetheless find the Forest Service’s conduct in this regard sufficient under the APA—that is, neither arbitrary nor capricious. Regulations define “cumulative impact” as, [T]he impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions regardless of what agency (Federal or nonFederal) or person undertakes such other actions. Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively significant actions taking place over a period of time. 40 C.F.R. § 1508.7. But the Forest Service need not consider any and all past, present, and foreseeable actions. It must only consider those actions that are “relevant and useful” in the agency’s judgment, “because they have a significant cause-andeffect relationship with the direct and indirect effects of the proposal for agency action and its alternatives.” 36 C.F.R. § 220.4. -21- In approving the projects, the Forest Service considered certain potential cumulative impacts in detail. For example, it considered the potential cumulative effects of the expected subsequent treatments in the project areas on sensitive species. It also considered the potential cumulative effects of thinning in multiple areas within the Fireshed on management indicator species and threatened and endangered species. In each instance, it found no adverse cumulative effects. Wild Watershed slides by these portions of the record and instead asserts that the Forest Service was required to consider a separate type of cumulative impact, namely “the dramatic effects of extensive thinning and . . . burning” on 21,896 acres of Forest Service land within the Fireshed. Aplt. Br. at 21. Specifically, Wild Watershed seeks an assessment of the effects of thinning and burning on roadless areas and old growth habitat. To support its contention that such extensive thinning and burning is, in fact, occurring or reasonably foreseeable, Wild Watershed points to the Coalition’s meeting minutes and a map depicting certain “ongoing or planned” projects within the Fireshed. Aplt. Br. at 20–21 (citing App. at 30). But the Forest Service cannot have acted arbitrarily or capriciously in failing to assess the cumulative effects of something that the record does not show to be either occurring or reasonably foreseeable. See Wyoming, 661 F.3d at 1227 (noting agency action benefits from the presumption of validity and the -22- challenger bears the burden of showing it is arbitrary or capricious). The map Wild Watershed relies on depicts certain projects in the Fireshed and suggests that these are planned or ongoing. These projects do cover 21,896 acres, but, critically, the map does not convey the substance of the projects. That is, the map does not show these are thinning and burning projects. Nor do the meeting minutes Wild Watershed points to provide clarity. While they discuss additional ongoing or planned projects in the Fireshed, these projects do not align with those depicted on the map. Nor do the minutes elaborate on what the projects described therein involve. Only one project discussed in the meeting minutes (but not depicted on the map) is explained as involving “thinning and piling” and “prescribed fire.” App. at 27. No specific acreage is provided for this project. Accordingly, Wild Watershed fails to show the alleged 21,896 acres worth of projects it cites to necessarily warranted consideration for having “a significant cause-and-effect relationship with the direct and indirect effects of the [Hyde Park and Pacheco Canyon projects].” 36 C.F.R. § 220.4; see also Wyoming, 661 F.3d at 1227. Forest Service statements further undercut Wild Watershed’s argument. The forest official responsible for approving the projects declared that, at the time of the Hyde Park and Pacheco Canyon projects were approved, the Forest Service lacked “a defined proposal for work across the remaining National Forest System -23- lands within the Fireshed.” Supp. App. at 54 (“The number of acres to be treated, the methods for treating those areas, and the funding to accomplish implementation ha[d] yet to be determined.”). Thus, the potential cumulative impacts of the Hyde Park and Pacheco Canyon projects were not considered in conjunction with these other “speculative” components of the larger Coalition initiative. Id. Although the map and meeting minutes raise some questions with respect to the number of ongoing or planned projects within the Fireshed and their stage of development, we find these documents insufficient to show the Forest Service acted arbitrarily or capriciously. Arizona Public Serv. Co. v. E.P.A., 562 F.3d 1116, 1123 (10th Cir. 2009) (“We will not set aside agency action on account of a less-than-ideal explanation as long as the agency’s decisionmaking process may reasonably be discerned.”). 12 12 Wild Watershed also contends the Forest Service improperly segmented the projects. Aplt. Br. at 19 (arguing the projects “are interdependent parts of a larger action and depend on the larger action for their justification”). Again assuming without deciding that NEPA’s prohibition on such segmentation applies to projects such as these, we find the Forest Service’s conduct sufficient under APA review. While it is true other projects were anticipated in the Santa Fe Fireshed, the record does not show the projects were so interconnected that they required collective evaluation under NEPA. The projects are several miles apart and occur in separate watersheds that drain to different locations. Supp. App. at 55. Implementation of the projects will proceed independently, with significant differences in funding and participation. Id. Moreover, as the Forest Service official responsible for overseeing the projects declared, the projects would proceed even if the larger Coalition initiative did not exist. Id. at 54. -24- Accordingly, Wild Watershed fails to show the projects may be set aside due to any NEPA violation.