Puerto Rico Conservation Foundation v. Larson

797 F. Supp. 1074, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10874, 1992 WL 168795
District Court, D. Puerto Rico·Decided April 13, 1992·No. Civ. 91-2378 GG·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GIERBOLINI, Chief Judge.

Pending before this court are motions for summary judgment from both parties pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

*1076 I. INTRODUCTION 1

Plaintiffs are various environmental organizations that challenge the decision by the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Forest Service to rebuild a portion of Highway PR 191 (“Highway 191”)— which runs through the “El Yunque” rainforest without preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”). On the basis of an Environmental Assessment (“EA”) dating back to 1982, defendants determined that an EIS was not needed before deciding whether to reopen the road. Defendants issued a Finding of no Significant Impact (FONSI) to proceed with the construction project.

On January 30, 1992, this court issued a temporary restraining order (“TRO”), to enjoin defendants from initiating construction on Highway 191. On February 13, 1992, the court held a hearing where we heard argument on various motions, including plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. At this hearing, we found that “good cause” existed under Rule 65(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to extend the TRO, and extended the TRO for ten (10) additional days. On February 26, 1992, before the TRO expired, we issued a preliminary injunction enjoining and restraining defendants, their agents, employees, contractors and/or subcontractors from “issuing a Notice to Proceed and commencing construction or engaging in any activities or actions relating in any way to Commonwealth Route PR 191”. On March 27, 1992, we issued a clarification of the geographical area within the scope of our February 26 preliminary injunction.

The magistrate issued a Report and Recommendation on February 6,1992, with the recommendation that Summary Judgment be entered for the plaintiffs. Defendants challenge the magistrate’s ultimate recommendation and his supporting analysis. Plaintiffs have filed a response to defendants’ opposition to the magistrate’s report and the case is now ready for disposition.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW UNDER NEPA

The fundamental issue here is whether defendants, in deciding to proceed with the project of reconstructing Highway 191, complied with the procedural requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq. Defendants assert that an EIS is required under NEPA only for “major federal agency actions”, which have a reasonable potential to significantly affect the quality of the environment, 42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(C). They further assert that reconstruction of Highway 191 will not have a significant impact on the environment, and consequently is not within NEPA’s scope. Plaintiffs, however, claim that the construction work needed to reopen Highway 191 will have a very significant impact on the environment, and that an EIS is thus essential before the agency proceeds with the project. 2

In our Opinion and Order of February 26, 1992, we concluded that “... the proposal to rebuild PR 191 is a ‘major federal action’ under NEPA and CEQ”, and we now reaffirm our earlier analysis. This contract falls precisely within the definition of a “major federal action” for which NEPA’s stringent requirements demand an EIS, if significant environmental effects are likely to occur. 42 U.S.C. § 4332(2)(c) (1977). Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) regulations define “action” as “new and continuing activities, including projects and programs entirely or partly financed, assisted, conducted, regulated, or approved by federal agencies ...” 40 C.F.R. § 1508.18 (1991). See also Andrus v. Sierra Club, 442 U.S. 347, 363 n. 21, 99 S.Ct. 2335, 2343 n. 21, 60 L.Ed.2d 943 (1979) (major federal actions include “expansion or revision of ongoing programs”).

*1077 Defendants contend that the magistrate applied a strict “reasonableness standard of review”, and that the use of such a standard of review is erroneous. They assert that the “arbitrary and capricious” standard is the proper judicial standard of review of an agency determination under NEPA. Defendants assert that the Supreme Court in Marsh v. Oregon Natural Resources Council, 490 U.S. 360, 109 S.Ct. 1851, 104 L.Ed.2d 377 (1989), (“hereinafter Marsh ”), definitively resolved the issue of the appropriate standard of review under NEPA, by adopting the “arbitrary and capricious” the standard of review from the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). Our view of this issue is that the Marsh Court did not expressly resolve the issue of whether a “reasonableness” or an “arbitrary and capricious” standard of judicial review is more appropriate when a court reviews an agency’s decision to waive an EIS altogether. Marsh, supra at 376, 109 S.Ct. at 1860.

We are in accord with plaintiffs that it is irrelevant to determine under which standard of review the magistrate reached his conclusions, because under either standard, the role of the court is to decide the potential environmental impacts of a proposed project.

Our determination of this issue is that under either the “reasonableness” or the “arbitrary and capricious” standard of judicial review; plaintiffs have clearly demonstrated that defendants’ failure to carefully evaluate the potential impact of the reconstruction of Highway 191, violates the strict requirements set forth by NEPA, which governs this issue. See Sierra Club v. Marsh, 769 F.2d 868, 870 (1st Cir.1985) quoting Quiñonez-López v. Coco Lagoon Development Corp., 733 F.2d 1, 2 (1st Cir.1984).

III. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

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Puerto Rico Conservation Foundation v. Larson, 797 F. Supp. 1074, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10874, 1992 WL 168795 (prd 1992).

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