Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Ctr. v. Graham

• Decision Date: 28 September 2012
• Docket Number: No. 2:11–cv–00439–MCE–JFM.,2:11–cv–00439–MCE–JFM.
• Citation: 899 F.Supp.2d 948
• Parties: KLAMATH–SISKIYOU WILDLANDS CENTER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Patricia A. GRAHAM, et al, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California

899 F.Supp.2d 948

KLAMATH–SISKIYOU WILDLANDS CENTER, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.Patricia A. GRAHAM, et al, Defendants.

No. 2:11–cv–00439–MCE–JFM.

United States District Court, E.D. California.

Sept. 28, 2012.

Elizabeth K. Crosson, Law Offices of Elizabeth Crosson, Venice, CA, Susan Jane M. Brown, PHV, Western Environmental Law Center, Portland, OR, Erik Schlenker–Goodrich, PHV, Western Environmental Law Center, Taos, NM, for Plaintiffs.

Adam J. Katz, Peter Christopher Whitfield, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, David B. Glazer, U.S. Department of Justice, San Francisco, CA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

MORRISON C. ENGLAND, JR., District Judge.

Through the present action, Plaintiffs Klamath–Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads, Environmental Protection Information Center, Wilderness Society and Klamath Forest Alliance (hereinafter “Plaintiffs”) seek declaratory and injunctive relief from the adoption by Defendants United States Forest Service (“Forest Service”) and Patricia A. Grantham, Klamath National Forest Supervisor, (hereinafter “Defendants”) of the Record of Decision (“ROD”) approving the Klamath National Forest Motorized Travel Management Environmental Impact Statement. Plaintiffs contend that the Final Environmental Impact Statement (“FEIS”) issued by the Forest Service in August of 2010 violates the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, National Forest Management Act, and Clean Water Act. Presently before the Court are the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. ¹ For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs' motion is DENIED and Defendants' motion is GRANTED in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

A. Statutory Framework

1. National Environmental Policy Act

Congress enacted the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) in 1969 to protect the environment by requiring certain procedural safeguards before an agency takes action affecting the environment. The NEPA process is designed to “ensure that the agency ... will have available, and will carefully consider, detailed information concerning significant environmental impacts; it also guarantees that the relevant information will be made available to the larger [public] audience.” Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v. Blackwood, 161 F.3d 1208, 1212 (9th Cir.1998) (quoting Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council, 490 U.S. 332, 349, 109 S.Ct. 1835, 104 L.Ed.2d 351 (1989)). The purpose of NEPA is to “ensure a process, not to ensure any result.” Inland Empire Pub. Lands Council v. U.S. Forest Serv., 88 F.3d 754, 758 (9th Cir.1996). “NEPA emphasizes the importance of coherent and comprehensive up-front environmental analysis to ensure informed decision-making to the end that the agency will not act on incomplete information, only to regret its decision after is it too late to correct.” Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Forest Serv., 349 F.3d 1157, 1166 (9th Cir.2003). Complete analysis under NEPA also assures that the public has sufficient information to challenge the agency's decision. Methow Valley Citizens Council, 490 U.S. at 349, 109 S.Ct. 1835.

NEPA mandates that all federal agencies, including the Forest Service, prepare a “detailed statement” that discusses the environmental ramifications and alternatives to all “major Federal Actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.” 42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(C). These statements must include a description and analysis of the environmental impact of the proposed action, any adverse environmental effects that cannot be avoided if the action is implemented, alternatives to the proposed action, the relationship between short-term uses and long-term productivity, and any irreversible or irretrievable commitment of resources that would be involved if the action were to be implemented. Id.; Earth Island Inst. v. U.S. Forest Serv., 442 F.3d 1147, 1153 (9th Cir.2006). “In short, NEPA requires that a federal agency ‘consider every significant aspect of the environmental impact of a proposed action’ and ‘inform the public that it has indeed considered environmental concerns in its decision-making process.’ ” Id. (quoting Kern v. U.S. Bureau of Land Mgmt., 284 F.3d 1062, 1066 (9th Cir.2002)). Thus, an agency must take a “hard look” at the consequences, environmental impacts, and adverse environmental effects of a proposed action within an environmental impact statement. Kleppe v. Sierra Club, 427 U.S. 390, 410 n. 21, 96 S.Ct. 2718, 49 L.Ed.2d 576 (1976). If an environmental impact statement adequately discloses such effects, NEPA's goal is satisfied. Inland Empire Pub. Lands Council, 88 F.3d at 758.

2. National Forest Management Act and Northwest Forest Plan

In 1976, Congress enacted the National Forest Management Act (“NFMA”), 16 U.S.C. § 1600 et seq., which governs the Forest Service's management of national forests. The NFMA imposes both procedural and substantive requirements on the Forest Service's management of national forests. Hapner v. Tidwell, 621 F.3d 1239, 1246 (9th Cir.2010). The Service's procedural responsibilities under the NFMA include development and maintenance of a comprehensive Land and Resource Management Plan (“LRMP”) for each national forest. 16 U.S.C. § 1604(a); Hapner, 621 F.3d at 1246. In developing and maintaining each plan, the Forest Service is required to use “a systematic interdisciplinary approach to achieve integrated consideration of physical, biological, economic, and other sciences.” 16 U.S.C. § 1604(b). Once a forest plan is adopted, all subsequent agency actions must comply with that plan. Id. § 1604(i); Hapner, 621 F.3d at 1246. The Forest Service should examine the proposed project's compliance with the applicable forest plant during the NEPA process. Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation v. U.S. Forest Serv., 832 F.Supp.2d 1138, 1142 (E.D.Cal.2011) (citing Inland Empire Pub. Lands Council, 88 F.3d at 757).

In 1994, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management adopted the Northwest Forest Plan (“NWFP”) to provide a regional strategy for managing the National Forests of Northern California, Oregon and Washington for ecological and socio-economic benefits. See AR ² 18281–18511. The NWFP establishes a system of land “allocations,” including Late Successional Reserves (“LSR”), Adaptive Management Areas, and Riparian Reserves.Id. at 18289. Each land allocation is governed by a different set of Standards and Guidelines (“S & Gs”). However, some S & Gs apply to all land allocations. Id. at 18410.

In addition to the land allocations, the NWFP created the Aquatic Conservation Strategy (“ACS”) to restore and maintain the ecological health of watersheds and aquatic ecosystems contained within them on public lands. Id. at 18383. The nine Aquatic Conservation Strategy Objectives require the Forest Service to “maintain and restore” key aquatic and watershed processes. Id. at 18385.

3. Clean Water Act

The stated purpose of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation's waters. 33 U.S.C. § 1251(a). “The CWA requires federal agencies to determine that approved actions do not result in pollution in violation of state water quality standards.” Greater Yellowstone Coal. v. Lewis, 628 F.3d 1143, 1149 (9th Cir.2010) (citing 33 U.S.C. § 1323(a)). To achieve its statutory objectives, the CWA authorized each state to develop water quality standards for all waters within its boundaries. 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(b)(1)(C), 1313. “A water quality standard defines the water quality goals of a water body, or portion thereof, by designating the use or uses to be made of the water and by setting criteria necessary to protect the uses.” 40 C.F.R. § 131.2. Water quality standards also prevent further degradation of that water body with “antidegradation” provisions. Id. § 131.12.

States identify impaired waters that do not meet water quality standards and “establish a priority ranking for such waters, taking into account the severity of the pollution and the uses to be made of such waters.” 33 U.S.C. § 1313(d)(1)(A). States periodically submit lists of such impaired waters to EPA as the “303(d) list,” and must develop a “total maximum daily load” (“TMDL”) for each pollutant of concern in each waterbody identified under Section 303(d). Id. § 1313(d). A TMDL represents the maximum amount of pollutant “loading” that a waterbody can receive from all combined sources without exceeding applicable water-quality standards. City of Arcadia v. EPA, 265 F.Supp.2d 1142, 1144 (N.D.Cal.2003). TMDLs are “not self-enforcing, but serve[ ] as an informational tool or goal for the establishment of further pollution controls.” City of Arcadia v. EPA, 411 F.3d 1103, 1105 (9th Cir.2005). In California, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (“Water Board”) has developed TMDLs the Scott, Shasta and Salmon Rivers, and a draft TMDL for the Klamath River.³ AR 1061.

The CWA uses different methods to control pollution released from point sources and nonpoint sources. Pronsolino v. Nastri, 291 F.3d 1123, 1126 (9th Cir.2002). Point source pollution is controlled directly by the CWA's federal permit program. Oregon Nat'l Desert Ass'n v. Dombeck, 172 F.3d 1092, 1096 (9th Cir.1998). By contrast, nonpoint source pollution “is not regulated directly by the Act” and is instead left to the States to regulate under state programs. Id.

B. Brief Factual Background⁴

In 2005, the Forest Service adopted a final rule governing management of motor vehicle travel within the National Forests (“Travel Management Rule”). 70 Fed.Reg. 68,264–291 (Nov. 9, 2005). The Travel Management Rule addresses the need to regulate previously unrestricted motor vehicle travel on the National Forests. See id. at 68,264–65. This litigation concerns Subpart B of the Travel Management Rule, “Designation of Roads, Trails, and Areas for Motor Vehicle Use.” Subpart B provides for the designation of National...