W. Org. Councils v. U.S. Bureau of Land Mgmt.
| Decision Date | 26 March 2018 |
| Docket Number | CV 16-21-GF-BMM |
| Parties | WESTERN ORGANIZATION OF RESOURCE COUNCILS, et al. Plaintiffs, v. U.S. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, et al. Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Montana |
The Court held a hearing on the parties' four cross-motions for summary judgment (Docs. 72; 78; 84; 87) on November 2, 2017. (Doc. 108.)
Plaintiffs Western Organization of Resource Councils, Montana Environmental Information Center, Powder River Basin Resource Council, Northern Plains Resource Council, Sierra Club, and Natural Resources Defense Council (collectively "Plaintiffs") filed this action on March 15, 2016. (Doc. 1.) Plaintiffs filed their instant motion for summary judgment on July 14, 2017. (Doc. 72.)
Jewell in her official capacity as Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior ("DOI"), Neil Kornze in his official capacity as Director of the BLM, and Janice Schneider in her capacity as Assistant Secretary of Land and Minerals Management of DOI (collectively "Federal Defendants") filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on August 11, 2017. (Doc. 78.) Intervenor-Defendants Peabody Caballo Mining, LLC and BTU Western Resources, Inc. filed a cross-motion for partial summary judgment on August 18, 2017. (Doc. 84.) Intervenor-Defendant Cloud Peak Energy filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on August 18, 2017. (Doc. 87.)
Plaintiffs have raised six claims under the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321-4370h, and the Administrative Procedures Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-706. (Doc. 1 at 3.) Plaintiffs challenge Federal Defendants' approval of Resource Management Plans ("RMPs") for two adjacent field offices in the Powder River Basin. Id. Federal Defendants approved the Buffalo RMP and the Miles City RMP, and six others not at issue here, by the same Record of Decision ("ROD"), dated September 21, 2015. (Doc. 23-1 at 29.)
Plaintiffs allege that Federal Defendants acted arbitrarily and capriciously in approving the RMPs when BLM failed to consider the following matters: 1) alternatives that would reduce the amount of coal available for leasing in each field office; 2) measures that would reduce methane emissions from resourcedevelopment; 3) direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the fossil fuel development under the plans. (Doc. 72-1 at 11.)
Federal Defendants ask the Court to grant summary judgment in their favor. (Doc. 78.) The Defendant-Intervenors also have offered arguments as to why Plaintiffs' claims should fail. (Docs. 84; 87.)
BLM drafted the Buffalo RMP and Miles City RMP to address conditions that had changed within the planning areas since the most recent RMPs had been approved in 1985 for Buffalo and Miles City, and again in 1996 for Miles City. (Doc. 80 at 3, 6, 19, 22.) These changing conditions included conservation of the Greater Sage-Grouse. The Approved RMPs for revisions to the eight sub-regions, including Buffalo and Miles City, represent, in fact "full scale resource management plan revisions" and "are not limited to [Greater Sage-Grouse] habitat management." (Record of Decision, Doc. 23-1 at 15.)
The ROD addresses sub-regions that cover millions of acres of federally owned and managed lands in parts of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. (Doc. 23-1 at 11-14.) "Each sub-region prepared its own separate EIS and conducted its own planning with input from local cooperators, stakeholders, and members of the public." Id. at 11.
The Buffalo RMP revision covers about 7.4 million acres of federal, state,and private land in north-central Wyoming, along with 4.8 million acres of BLM-administered federal mineral estate. (Doc. 23-2 at 13.) The Miles City RMP covers 2.75 million acres of BLM-administered surface lands and 10.6 million acres of BLM-administered mineral acres in seventeen eastern Montana counties. (Doc. 23-5 at 8.)
The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ("FLPMA") directs the Secretary of the United States DOI, through BLM, to "manage the public lands under principles of multiple use and sustained yield." 43 U.S.C. § 1732(a). BLM accomplishes this directive by developing, maintaining, and revising RMPs. 43 U.S.C. § 1712(a); 43 C.F.R. § 1601.0-5(n). RMPs "guide and control future management actions." 43 C.F.R. § 1601.0-2. RMPs establish "[l]and areas for limited, restricted or exclusive use" and determine "[a]llowable resource uses (either singly or in combination) and related levels of production or use to be maintained." 43 C.F.R. § 1601.0-5(n)(1)-(2).
BLM should "coordinate the land use, inventory planning, and management activities" for lands covered by a RMP. 43 U.S.C. § 1712(c)(9). BLM should coordinate these activities "with the land use planning and management programs of other federal departments and agencies of the States and local governments within which the lands are located." Id. BLM obtains this federal, state, and localcooperation in the RMP process by inviting relevant state and local governments and federally recognized Indian tribes to participate as "cooperating agencies." 43 C.F.R. § 1610.3-1(b). BLM provides cooperating agencies with "opportunity for review, advice, and suggestion on issues and topics that may affect or influence other agency or other government programs." 43 C.F.R. § 1610.3-1(c).
RMP approval represents a major federal action that significantly affects the quality of the human environment. 43 C.F.R. § 1601.0-6. RMP approval triggers the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") under NEPA. Id. The EIS and RMP shall be "published in a single document" whenever possible. Id.
An RMP "guide[s] and control[s] future management." 43 C.F.R. § 1601.0-2. An RMP may identify lands available for leasing, define resource use, and levels of production. 43 C.F.R. § 1601.0-5(n)(1)-(2). Before federal coal, oil, or gas resources may be developed, however, the Mineral Leasing Act ("MLA"), 30 U.S.C. §§ 181, et seq., prescribes additional procedures. Coal remains subject to a different leasing process than that required for oil and gas development.
After BLM identifies areas suitable for coal leasing in an RMP or other programmatic document, the agency then identifies leases for sale. See 43 C.F.R. subpt. 3425. Coal leases and coal lease modifications trigger the preparation of anEIS of the proposed lease area. 43 C.F.R. §§ 3425.2, 3425.3, 3432.3(c). A lessee seeking to develop leased resources must submit a plan for operation and reclamation for approval by the Secretary of Interior. 30 U.S.C. § 207(c). The Secretary of Interior bases approval on a recommendation from the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement must comply with NEPA in evaluating the plan. 30 C.F.R. § 746.13.
BLM offers oil and gas leases for sale consistent with the RMP. 43 C.F.R. § 1610.5-3(a). A lessee seeking to develop oil or gas must submit an Application for Permit to Drill (APD) at least thirty days before commencement of operations. 43 C.F.R. § 3162.3-1(c). "NEPA applies at all stages of the process." N. Alaska Envtl. Ctr. v. Kempthorne, 457 F.3d 969, 977 (9th Cir. 2006).
A court should grant summary judgment where the movant demonstrates that no genuine dispute exists "as to any material fact" and the movant is "entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). This Court will grant summary judgment where the documentary evidence produced by the parties permits only one conclusion. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250 (1986).
The National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") requires federal agencies to "take a hard look" at the "environmental consequences" of their decision-making. Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council, 490 U.S. 332, 350 (1989) (internal citations omitted). The statute "does not mandate particular results." Id. NEPA instead "prescribes the necessary process" that agencies must follow to identify and evaluate "adverse environmental effects of the proposed action." Id. Such effects may be direct, "indirect," or "cumulative." 40 C.F.R. § 1502.16.
The NEPA process requires preparation of an EIS for "major Federal actions" that "significantly" affect the "quality of the human environment." 42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(C); 40 C.F.R. § 1508.11. An EIS must provide a "full and fair discussion of significant environmental impacts." 40 C.F.R. § 1502.1. This discussion should "inform decisionmakers and the public of the reasonable alternatives which would avoid or minimize adverse impacts or enhance the quality of the human environment." Id.
The Court reviews NEPA compliance through the Administrative Procedures Act ("APA"). League of Wilderness Defs.-Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v. U.S. Forest Serv., 549 F.3d 1211, 1215 (9th Cir. 2008). The APA instructs a reviewing court to "hold unlawful and set aside" agency action deemed"arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law." 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A).
APA review requires the Court to consider whether an agency based a particular decision on "consideration of the relevant factors." Citizens to Pres. Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe, 401 U.S. 402, 416 (1971) (citations omitted). Such inquiry must be "thorough," "probing," and "in-depth." Id. at 415. The Court must defer to the judgment of the agency, and reverse a decision as arbitrary and capricious only where "a clear error of judgment" has occurred. League of Wilderness Defs., 549 F.3d at 1215. This "clear error of judgment" may entail the following scenarios: 1) the agency's reliance on factors "Congress did not intend [for] it to consider;" 2) the agency's failure to "consider...
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