Opinion ID: 22210
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: seis

Text: 18 On appeal, the Conservation Groups argue that the SEIS prepared by the Corps violates NEPA because its cumulative impacts analysis, its mitigation analysis, and its alternatives analysis are fatally flawed. 4 First, the Groups contend that the cumulative impacts analysis does not appropriately consider the cumulative impacts of other ongoing, proposed, or reasonably foreseeable future projects, and improperly substitutes general statements about mitigation for the requirement to analyze cumulative impacts. 5 The Conservation Groups maintain that the cumulative impacts analysis is based on arbitrary conclusions directly contradicted by relevant evidence in the administrative record and that the Corps should not avoid an analysis of the cumulative impacts on the grounds that compensatory mitigation resolves the issue. According to the Conservation Groups, the SEIS analysis places the environmental impacts of the Project in a false light by painting a picture of an environmentally benign project, when nothing could be further from the truth. 19 The district court found that the decision of the agency was not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law because the Corps considered the cumulative impacts of the Project, which it concluded would not be significant. 6 The district court notedthat the Corps considered other proposed projects and made the information available to a larger audience. The district court also observed that there was no indication that the selected alternative Project plan would have any cumulative impact other than that addressed in the SEIS. 20 Under the arbitrary and capricious standard of review, this Court must give the Corps's decision substantial deference. After an examination of the administrative record, we find that the Corps's cumulative impact analysis provided sufficiently rigorous identification and consideration of the cumulative impacts of ongoing, proposed, and reasonably foreseeable future action to allow appropriate public assessment of the Project in accordance with NEPA. The Corps's consideration of other projects' potential cumulative environmental impacts in the relevant geographical area fulfills NEPA's requirements.
21 The Conservation Groups claim that the SEIS does not provide sufficiently detailed analysis of the effectiveness of the proposed mitigation, disputing the Corps's assertion that the net and cumulative effect of the proposed work is zero because all unavoidable impacts of construction including the loss of wetland functions and values are being fully compensated through mitigation. The Groups contend that the administrative record does not support the SEIS's mitigation analysis and shows that mitigation efforts often fail for a number of reasons, including poor project design, inadequate monitoring, and a lack of adequate maintenance or remedial monitoring. Further, the Conservation Groups question whether the proposed mitigation will be implemented because the Corps already has a backlog of 27,249 acres of reforestation and mitigation in the district where another 5,200 acres of mitigation must occur for this Project. They contend that, if the mitigation is unsuccessful, the impact of the Project is much more adverse than the Corps concedes. Thus, they maintain that the SEIS does not satisfy NEPA. 22 The district court found that the Corps's SEIS fully complies with NEPA's mitigation requirements because it discusses the environmental impacts to terrestrial, wetland, waterfowl, and aquatic resources for each of the five alternatives for the Project. Under CEQ regulations, agencies must provide a discussion of actions that can be taken to mitigate adverse environmental impacts to guarantee that agencies have seriously contemplated the environmental consequences of proposed federal projects. As the district court observes, citing Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council, 109 S.Ct. 1835, 1847 (1989), there is a fundamental distinction, however, between a requirement that mitigation be discussed in sufficient detail to ensure that environmental consequences have been fairly evaluated, on the one hand, and a substantive requirement that a complete mitigationplan be actually formulated and adopted, on the other. 23 The Corps's mitigation analysis has produced a result that is not subject to reversal under an arbitrary and capricious standard of review. The SEIS identifies the unavoidable impacts to terrestrial, wetland, and waterfowl resources and formulates alternative measures to compensate for those losses, including the acquisition of in-kind land for compensation. The Conservation Groups make valid points in challenging the Corps's mitigation assumptions, arguing that the success of wetlands mitigation is questionable. 7 However, the Corps has conducted a serious and thorough evaluation of environmental mitigation options for the Project to allow its analysis to fulfill NEPA's process-oriented requirements, and thus to survive the arbitrary and capricious standard of review.
24 The Conservation Groups challenge the SEIS on the grounds that its alternatives analysis fails to adequately evaluate a wholly reasonable alternative and an appropriate range of alternatives. The Groups contend that the Corps did not rigorously evaluate the Landside Borrow alternative and violated NEPA in choosing the Avoid and Minimize method. According to the Conservation Groups, the SEIS should not have abandoned the Landside Borrow alternative after only preliminary screening and is misleading because it abandons its stated priority for locating borrow areas in landside cropland and adopts landside borrowing as an option of last resort. Furthermore, the Conservation Groups maintain that the range of alternatives considered was insufficient because each of the alternatives have the same end result. See State of California v. Block, 690 F.2d 753, 767 (9th Cir. 1982) (holding that an inadequate range of alternatives was considered where the end result of all eight alternatives was development of a substantial portion of wilderness). Under NEPA, the SEIS should rigorously explore and objectively evaluate all reasonable alternatives. 40 C.F.R. § 1502.14(a). According to the Conservation Groups, the Corps did not evaluate all reasonable alternatives for the Project. 25 Stating that the Conservation Groups' argument amounts to nothing more than a disagreement with the alternative the Corps chose, the district court held that the analysis of Project alternatives in the SEIS was sufficient to satisfy NEP and the CEQ regulations. The district court was satisfied with the reasons the Corps gave for rejecting the landside alternative after only preliminary screening: 1) the alternative is at odds with the Project's purpose of providing protection to valuable farmland and urban areas on the landside of the levees; 2) acquiring the valuable farmland would cost approximately 30% more than acquiring the frequently-flooded farmland on the riverside; 3) there were numerous objections to the alternative by Project sponsors and residents in the delta; and 4) the relative habitat values of the riverside borrow area are superior to the landside borrow areas because periodic flushing on the landside will accumulate more agricultural pesticides and herbicides. Accordingly, the district court was persuaded that the Corps had rigorously evaluated all reasonable alternatives. 26 Our review of the record persuades us that the Corps has conducted a rigorous and thorough evaluation in this case. It rejected alternatives, even those that could be considered to be viable and reasonable alternatives, after an appropriate evaluation. That rejection was not arbitrary or capricious. Therefore, we affirm the district court's decision to grant summary judgment in favor of the defendants.