Edwardsen v. United States Department of the Interior

268 F.3d 781
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 26, 2001
DocketNo. 99-71397
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 268 F.3d 781 (Edwardsen v. United States Department of the Interior) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Edwardsen v. United States Department of the Interior, 268 F.3d 781 (9th Cir. 2001).

Opinion

SCHROEDER, Chief Judge:

Since 1978, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”), 43 U.S.C. § 1331 et seq., has set forth the procedures for administrative approval of offshore oil drill[783]*783ing on the Outer Continental Shelf. In this case, six native Alaskans and the environmental organization Greenpeace, Inc., seek review of the Secretary of the Interi- or’s approval of the development and production plan (“DPP”) for the Northstar oil and gas development project, located off the north coast of Alaska in the Beaufort Sea. Petitioners (“Edwardsen”) challenge both the adequacy of the final environmental impact statement (“EIS”) under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq., and the compliance of the oil discharge prevention and contingency plan (“spill response plan”) with the requirements of § 4202(a) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA”), codified at 33 U.S.C. § 1321(j). We have jurisdiction to review the NEPA claims. We lack jurisdiction, however, to review the spill response plan, because it was approved in a separate agency action and OPA vests review of such plans in the district court. See 33 U.S.C. § 1321(n).

BACKGROUND

BP Exploration (Alaska), Inc. (“BPXA”) seeks to produce oil from Northstar, an oil and gas reservoir that extends from two to eight miles off the north coast of Alaska in the Beaufort Sea. It is a harsh environment: the average annual temperature is eleven degrees Fahrenheit, and ice covers coastal areas of the sea for at least nine months each year.

Undeterred by the severe climate conditions, a number of animal species make their home in the Beaufort Sea and on its shores. These include caribou and the endangered bowhead whale. For over 4,000 years, the area has also been home to the Inupiat Eskimo, whose traditional subsistence lifestyle includes the hunting of caribou and bowhead whales.

Beneath the Beaufort Sea, the North-star reservoir contains an estimated 158 million barrels of oil reserves. The state and federal governments sold leases to this field in 1979. The federal leases account for about twenty percent of the reserves, and state leases make up the remainder. Exploration began in 1983.

BPXA acquired the rights of the original lessees in 1995 and applied for federal, state, and local approval to begin producing oil from the Northstar reservoir. BPXA proposes to reconstruct and expand Seal Island, an artificial gravel island located near the center of the Northstar reservoir on state submerged lands. BPXA plans to drill oil and gas production wells, gas injection wells, and waste disposal wells from Seal Island. Some wells are to be in the federal portions of the reservoir. A six-mile-long pipeline, buried beneath the sea floor, will carry oil from Seal Island to the shore. A second pipeline, submerged in the same trench as the oil pipeline, will carry natural gas to Seal Island for use as fuel. On shore, the oil pipeline will run for eleven miles above ground to a connection with the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline will transport Northstar oil to Valdez, Alaska. From there, tankers will carry the oil to ports in the western U.S. and abroad. Production from the project is expected to last fifteen years.

BPXA applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”) for permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1344, and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899, 33 U.S.C. § 403, and to the Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior (“MMS”) for approval of the DPP under OCSLA, 43 U.S.C. § 1351.

In 1995, the Corps determined that the issuance of a permit would constitute a “major Federal action” that would require [784]*784the preparation of an EIS. The MMS and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) followed suit in 1996. A single EIS was prepared by the Corps, as lead federal agency, in conjunction with the MMS, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and the EPA, with the assistance of a third-party contractor funded by BPXA. In July 1999, the MMS adopted the EIS “for use in its decision.” Two months later, the MMS approved the DPP, in accordance with the recommendation of the state of Alaska.

In October 1999, the petitioners sought review of the MMS’ approval of the DPP in this court. Petitioner Greenpeace, Inc., is an international environmental organization. The individual petitioners are Inupi-at Eskimos who maintain that the approval of Northstar threatens their ability to continue hunting, fishing, and gathering traditional subsistence resources.

DISCUSSION

A. NEPA Claims

OCSLA, as amended in 1978, identifies four distinct stages in the development of an offshore oil well on the Outer Continental Shelf. See Secretary of the Interior v. California, 464 U.S. 312, 336-337, 104 S.Ct. 656, 78 L.Ed.2d 496 (1984). “The four stages are: (1) formulation of a five year leasing plan by the Department of the Interior; (2) lease sales; (3) exploration by the lessees; (4) development and production. Id. at 337, 104 S.Ct. 656. The final stage-development and production-is at issue here.”

Before commencing development and production, the lessee must submit a development and production plan to the Department of the Interior for approval. See 43 U.S.C. § 1351(a)(1). The required scope and contents of the DPP are defined by 43 U.S.C. § 1351(c) and 30 C.F.R. § 250.204. The Secretary must forward the DPP to the governor of any affected state and, upon request, to any affected local government. 43 U.S.C. § 1351(a)(3). The Secretary is required to accept the recommendations of the governor upon determining that they “provide for a reasonable balance between the national interest and the well-being of the citizens of the affected State.” 43 U.S.C. § 1345(c). The Secretary’s action to approve, require modification of, or disapprove a DPP is subject to judicial review only in the United States Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the affected state is located. 43 U.S.C. § 1349(c)(2).

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Edwardsen v. U.S. Dept. of Interior
268 F.3d 781 (Ninth Circuit, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
268 F.3d 781, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edwardsen-v-united-states-department-of-the-interior-ca9-2001.