The Forest Service has suspended the use of so-called categorical exclusions that allowed timber projects to bypass environmental reviews after a federal judge ruled those projects should be open to public comment and appeal.
Judge James Singleton of the U.S. District Court in Anchorage, Alaska, sided with Earth Island Institute and other environmental groups in ruling Sept. 16 that the service's policy violated the 1992 Appeals Reform Act, which Congress drafted in response to a previous agency proposal to limit appeals of timber projects. Singleton said his order should be enforced nationwide.
Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth ordered all projects or activities that used categorical exclusions suspended until project managers allow public notice, comment and the opportunity for appeal. The memo written last Friday also reminds foresters that Singleton struck down provisions that allowed projects signed by the secretary or undersecretary of Agriculture to bypass the appeals process as well as the practice of allowing regional and local foresters to declare emergencies to speed projects.
At issue are 2003 regulatory changes that expanded the use of "categorical exclusions," which allow the Forest Service to bypass National Environmental Policy Act-mandated environmental assessments or environmental impact statements on certain projects. The agency may still use categorical exemptions, but it must allow for public comment and administrative appeals, Singleton ruled in July (Greenwire , July 12).
The 2003 rule allowed the service to exempt logging projects of up to 1,000 acres and undertake fire recovery projects in burned areas of 4,200 acres without subjecting them to environmental reviews and the administrative appeals process. The agency and supporters in Congress say the rules are necessary to prevent delays in logging projects crucial to prevent massive wildfires.
Delay in oil and gas drilling rule
Singleton's ruling is also causing a delay in Forest Service plans to use categorical exclusions to streamline studies of small oil and gas drilling projects in national forests and grasslands, agency spokesman Dan Jiron said.
The plan would allow agency officials to issue categorical exclusions for drilling on grasslands and forests where officials do not anticipate negative environmental effects. Categorical exclusions could be issued for projects requiring less than a mile of road construction, three miles of pipeline and no more than four drill sites at an individual location (E&E News, Sept. 12).Greenwire via NAU's Community Forestry Listserv
