Center for Biological Diversity v. Environmental Protection Agency

861 F.3d 174, 2017 WL 2818634, 84 ERC (BNA) 1897, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 11668
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedJune 30, 2017
Docket14-1036 Consolidated with 15-5168
StatusPublished
Cited by79 cases

This text of 861 F.3d 174 (Center for Biological Diversity v. Environmental Protection Agency) 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
Center for Biological Diversity v. Environmental Protection Agency, 861 F.3d 174, 2017 WL 2818634, 84 ERC (BNA) 1897, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 11668 (D.C. Cir. 2017).

Opinions

Dissenting opinion filed by Senior Circuit Judge RANDOLPH.

[177]*177KAREN LeCRAFT HENDERSON, Circuit Judge:

The Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq., and its implementing regulations require the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to consult with certain wildlife services before taking any action that “may affect” an endangered species or its habitat. See 50 C.F.R. § 402.14(a). Nevertheless, the EPA issued a registration order authorizing the use of the pesticide cyantraniliprole (“CTP”) without having made an ESA “effects” determination or satisfied its duty to consult. The Center for Biological Diversity, the Center for Food Safety and Defenders of Wildlife (collectively, “Conservation Groups”) began two actions against the EPA: a complaint in district court under the ESA’s citizen-suit provision and a petition for review in our Court pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (“FIFRA”), 7 U.S.C. §§ 136 et seq. Because we conclude that FIFRA grants the court of appeals exclusive jurisdiction to review an ESA claim that is “inextricably intertwined” with a challenge to a pesticide registration order, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of the Conservation Groups’ ESA citizen suit. In addition, we grant the Conservation Groups’ FIFRA petition and remand the case to the EPA for further proceedings as herein set forth.

I. Background

A. Statutory Landscape

Endangered Species Act

The ESA constitutes “the most comprehensive legislation for the preservation of endangered species ever enacted by any nation.” Tenn. Valley Auth. v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153, 180, 98 S.Ct. 2279, 57 L.Ed.2d 117 (1978). Indeed, the Congress enacted the ESA “to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved” and “to provide a program for the conservation of such endangered species and threatened species.” 16 U.S.C. § 1531(b). “The.plain intent of Congress in enacting [the ESA] was to halt and reverse the trend toward species ■ extinction, whatever the cost.” Tenn. Valley Auth, 437 U.S. at 184, 98 S.Ct. 2279.

“The ESA confers on the United States Departments of the Interior ... and of Commerce ... shared responsibilities for protecting threatened or endangered species of fish, wildlife and plants.” In re Am. Rivers & Idaho Rivers United, 372 F.3d 413, 415 (D.C. Cir. 2004) (footnotes omitted) (citing 16 U.S.C. § 1533(a)). Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA mandates that every federal agency “shall, in consultation with and with the assistance of the Secretary, insure that any action authorized, funded, or carried out by such agency ... is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species or result in the destruction or adverse modification” of designated critical habitat. 16 U.S.C. § 1536(a)(2). That is, before taking any proposed action, agencies must consult with either the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”), located in the United States Department of Commerce, or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”), located in the United States Department of the Interior, to determine if the action will “jeopardize” endangered or threatened species.1 16 U.S.C. § 1532(15); 50 C.F.R. §§ 17.11, 402.01(b). This process, called — in short[178]*178hand — “consultation,” is “designed as an integral check on federal agency action, ensuring that such action does not go forward without full consideration of its effects on listed species.” Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 603, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992) (Blackmun, J., dissenting); accord Defs. of Wildlife v. Jackson, 791 F.Supp.2d 96, 100 (D.D.C. 2011).

The EPA, with input from the FWS or the NMFS, first makes an effects determination2 to determine whether a proposed action “may affect,” 50 C.F.R. § 402.14(a), or “is not likely to adversely affect,” id. § 402.13(a), an endangered or threatened species or its habitat. If the EPA determines that an action “may affect” an endangered species, formal consultation is usually required. Id. § 402.14(a)-(b). Formal consultation requires the FWS or the NMFS to prepare a “biological opinion” on whether the proposed action “is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat.” Id. § 402.14(h)(3). If, however, the agency de-, termines — with the written concurrence of the FWS or the NMFS — that “the action is not likely to adversely affect listed species or critical habitat, the consultation process is terminated, and no further action is necessary.” Id. § 402.13(a).

The ESA contains a broad citizen-suit provision, authorizing “any person” to “commence a civil suit on his own behalf ... to enjoin any person, including the United States and any other governmental instrumentality or agency ... who is alleged to be in violation of any provision of this chapter or regulation issued under the authority thereof.” 16 U.S.C. § 1540(g)(1). “The district courts ... have jurisdiction” of ESA citizen suits, id., but no action may be commenced “prior to sixty days after written notice of the violation has been given to the Secretary, and to any alleged violator.” Id. § 1540(g)(2)(A)(i).

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act

In enacting FIFRA, the Congress authorized the EPA to regulate the distribution, sale and use of pesticides “[t]o the extent necessary to prevent unreasonable adverse effects on the environment... .”3 7 U.S.C. § 136a(a). Under FIFRA, a pesticide may not be distributed or sold in the United States unless it has first been “registered” by the EPA. Id. That is, the “EPA issues a license, referred to as a ‘registration,’ for each specific pesticide product allowed to be marketed; the registration approves sale of a próduct with a specific formulation, in a specific type of package, [179]*179and with specific labeling limiting application to specific uses.” 69 Fed. Reg.

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Bluebook (online)
861 F.3d 174, 2017 WL 2818634, 84 ERC (BNA) 1897, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 11668, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/center-for-biological-diversity-v-environmental-protection-agency-cadc-2017.