Anglers Conservation Network v. Ross

387 F. Supp. 3d 87
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedMay 28, 2019
DocketCivil Action No. 14-509 (TJK)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 387 F. Supp. 3d 87 (Anglers Conservation Network v. Ross) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anglers Conservation Network v. Ross, 387 F. Supp. 3d 87 (D.C. Cir. 2019).

Opinion

TIMOTHY J. KELLY, United States District Judge *89Several organizations and individuals brought this action challenging an amendment adopted by the National Marine Fisheries Service to a fishery management plan that regulates several species of fish in the mid-Atlantic region. The gravamen of their complaint was that the amendment should have added certain species-species that they assert require federal management under the applicable laws-to the plan, and that the decision to nevertheless adopt the amendment without those species was unlawful. The Court granted summary judgment for Plaintiffs on one of their claims and for Defendants as to the other two, and it then entered a remedial order requiring Defendants to undertake specific actions. Defendants represent that they have now complied with the directives in that remedial order. Plaintiffs disagree. They moved to enforce the order, and afterward the case was reassigned to the undersigned. For the reasons explained below, Plaintiffs' motion is DENIED .

I. Background

A. Summary Judgment Proceedings

Plaintiffs Anglers Conservation Network, Captain Paul Eidman, Gateway Striper Club, Inc., and Philip Lofgren sued Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.,1 in his official capacity as Secretary of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Marine Fisheries Service ("Service"), challenging a final rule promulgated by Defendants-"Amendment 14"-that amends the fishery management plan for the mackerel, squid, and butterfish ("MSB") fishery off the eastern coast of the United States. They brought claims under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act ("MSA"), 16 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq. , the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq. , and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 701 et seq.

A thorough factual background of the case is set forth in the Court's Memorandum Opinion granting in part and denying in part the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment, and thus the Court only briefly recounts that background here. See Anglers Conservation Network v. Pritzker , 139 F. Supp. 3d 102 (D.D.C. 2015). The parties' central dispute concerns Defendants' regulatory decisions about four species of river herring and shad. Plaintiffs insist that the species require "conservation and management" as that term is defined in the MSA. Despite consideration of the issue during the development process, however, Amendment 14 did not include those species as regulated "stocks"2 under the MSB fishery management plan.

Plaintiffs brought three separate claims in their complaint, each alleging that promulgation *90of Amendment 14 violated applicable law. Count I alleged that Defendants were required under the MSA to include the four species of river herring and shad as regulated stocks in the MSB fishery management plan. See Compl. ¶¶ 113-29. Count II alleged that Amendment 14 lacked sufficient accountability measures to ensure that annual catch limits for the fishery are not exceeded, as required by the MSA. Id. ¶¶ 130-45. And Count III alleged that Defendants failed to take a "hard look" at Amendment 14's definition of the MSB fishery in violation of NEPA. Id. ¶¶ 146-54. The parties cross-moved for summary judgment on all three claims.

The Court granted in part and denied in part the parties' cross-motions. See ECF No. 46. On Plaintiffs' first count, the Court held that, in light of the administrative record, Defendants' determination that the four species of river herring and shad did not require "conservation and management"-and therefore that they did not need to include those species as stocks in the MSB fishery-was not arbitrary and capricious under the MSA or the APA. Anglers , 139 F. Supp. 3d at 115. As for Plaintiffs' second count, the Court likewise concluded that Defendants' decision not to include certain accountability measures in Amendment 14 did not violate the MSA or the APA. Id. at 118. Accordingly, the Court "dismissed" both those claims. See ECF No. 46 at 2.

On Count III, however, the Court found that Defendants had violated NEPA's procedural requirements. Specifically, the Court explained that the environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared as part of Amendment 14 did not consider, as one of the alternatives examined, a proposed action that would immediately add river herring and shad as stocks "with temporary conservation and management measures." Anglers , 139 F. Supp. 3d at 119. In neglecting to do so, the Court concluded, Defendants failed to "explore and objectively evaluate a reasonable range of alternatives and the associated impacts on the environment," as required by NEPA when an agency undertakes a major policy proposal such as an amendment to a fishery management plan. Id. (citing 42 U.S.C. § 4332(C) ).

B. Remedial Proceedings

Recognizing the complexity of the case and the underlying regulatory scheme, the Court instructed the parties to file briefs laying out their proposals for an appropriate remedy. See ECF No. 46 at 3. On January 19, 2016, upon consideration of the parties' submissions, the Court entered a remedial order in which it denied Plaintiffs' request to vacate Amendment 14 in favor of ordering Defendants to "ensure" that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (the "Council"), which develops amendments to the MSB fishery management plan, take a series of specific actions. See ECF No. 53 ("Rem. Order"). And it instructed Defendants to file status reports every 45 days apprising the Court of their progress in complying with those directives.

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387 F. Supp. 3d 87, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anglers-conservation-network-v-ross-cadc-2019.