Amicus Curiae Brief — United States Fish and Wildlife Service, et al., Petitioners v. Sierra Club, Inc.

Supreme Court briefAug 3, 2020

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No. 19-547

IN THE

_______________

UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, ET AL.,

Petitioners,

SIERRA CLUB, INC.,

Respondent.

________________

On Writ of Certiorari to the United States

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

______________________

BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE

ANDREW ROSENBERG,

JACOB CARTER,

AND JOEL CLEMENT

IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS

_________________

SHAUN A. GOHO

Counsel of Record

EMMETT ENVIRONMENTAL

LAW & POLICY CLINIC

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL

6 Everett St., Suite 5116

Cambridge, MA 02138

617-496-2058

sgoho@law.harvard.edu

Counsel for Amici Curiae

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................. i

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES...................................... iii

INTEREST OF THE AMICI CURIAE .......................1

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT .....................................2

ARGUMENT ...............................................................5

FOIA’s Purpose is to Promote Transparent and

Accountable Decisionmaking and this Court

Therefore Interprets its Exemptions Narrowly ...5

II. ESA Consultation is a Science-Driven Process in

Which the Services Wield Considerable Power ...7

A. The Services’ Role in the Consultation

Process is to Provide a Science-Based Check

on Action Agency Proposals ...........................7

B. When the Services Reach a Jeopardy

Conclusion, that Decision Carries Significant

Practical Weight ........................................... 11

C. The Fact that a Biological Opinion is Labeled

“Draft” Does not Lessen its Impact ............. 12

III. The Disclosure of Draft Biological Opinions Will

Not Chill Candid Discussion at the Services ..... 16

A. There is Little Evidence for a Chilling Effect

from Disclosure in General and Such an

Effect is Especially Unlikely in the Case of

Draft Biological Opinions ............................. 17

B. The Services Have Issued Guidance Calling

for the Inclusion of “Significant Drafts” or

“Drafts with Independent Legal Significance”

in Administrative Records ........................... 20

C. Pursuant to this Guidance, the Services

Routinely Place Draft Biological Opinions in

the Administrative Record or Otherwise

Release Them to the Public .......................... 22

IV. The Disclosure of Draft Biological Opinions

Ensures Scientific Transparency and Public

Accountability ..................................................... 24

CONCLUSION .......................................................... 26

iii

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Page(s)

Cases

Arizona Cattle Growers’ Ass’n v. FWS, 273 F.3d 1229

(9th Cir. 2001) ........................................................ 12

Bennett v. Spear, 520 U.S. 154 (1997) .......... 11, 12, 13

Defs. of Wildlife v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 931 F.3d

339 (4th Cir. 2019) ...................................................9

Dep’t of Justice v. Julian, 486 U.S. 1 (1988) ..............5

Dep’t of the Air Force v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352 (1976) ....5

U.S. Dep't of the Interior v. Klamath Water Users

Protective Ass’n, 532 U.S. 1 (2001) ...................... 5, 6

Dudman Commc’ns Corp. v. Dep’t of Air Force, 815

F.2d 1565 (D.C. Cir. 1987) .......................................7

EPA v. Mink, 410 U.S. 73 (1973) ............................ 5, 6

Hayward Area Planning Ass’n v. Norton, No. C 004211 SI, 2004 WL 724950 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 29,

2004) ....................................................................... 14

Hells Canyon Pres. Council v. Jacoby, 9 F. Supp. 2d

1216 (D. Or. 1998) .................................................. 23

Idaho Rivers United v. FERC, 189 Fed. App’x 629

(9th Cir. 2006) ........................................................ 23

Kowack v. U.S. Forest Serv., 766 F.3d 1130 (9th Cir.

2014) ................................................................... 7, 16

Idaho Rivers United v. Foss, 373 F. Supp. 2d 1158

(D. Idaho 2005) ...................................................... 14

Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Fla. v. United States,

566 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 2009)................................9

Nat. Res. Def. Council v. EPA, 954 F.3d 150 (2d Cir.

2020) .........................................................................7

Nat’l Audubon Soc’y v. FWS, 55 F. Supp. 2d 316

(E.D.N.Y. 2014) ...................................................... 14

National Security Archive v. CIA, 752 F.3d 460 (D.C.

Cir. 2014)................................................................ 16

NLRB v. Robbins Tire & Rubber Co., 437 U.S. 214

(1978) ........................................................................5

NLRB v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 421 U.S. 132 (1975) ..

5, 6, 16, 24

Pac. Coast Fed’n of Fishermen’s Ass’ns v. Gutierrez,

606 F. Supp. 2d 1122 (E.D. Cal. 2008) .................. 23

Pac. Coast Fed’n of Fishermen’s Ass’ns v. NMFS, 265

F.3d 1028 (9th Cir. 2001).........................................9

Petroleum Info. Corp. v. U.S. Dep’t of Interior, 976

F.2d 1429 (D.C. Cir. 1992) ................................... 6, 7

San Francisco Baykeeper v. U.S. Army Corps of

Eng’rs, 219 F. Supp. 2d 1001 (N.D. Cal. 2002) ..... 23

Selkirk Conservation Alliance v. Forsgren, 336 F.3d

944 (9th Cir. 2003) ........................................... 13, 23

Southwest Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. U.S.

Bureau of Reclamation, 6 F. Supp. 2d 1119 (D.

Ariz. 1997) .............................................................. 23

TVA v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153 (1978) .............................. 11

U.S. Dep’t of Justice v. Tax Analysts, 492 U.S. 136

(1989) ........................................................................5

United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974) ..............5

Statutes

5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3) .....................................................6

5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1)–(9) ...............................................5

16 U.S.C. § 1536(b)(3)(A) .................................. 8, 9, 15

16 U.S.C. § 1536(b)(4) .................................................9

Regulations

50 C.F.R. § 402.14(a) ...................................................8

50 C.F.R. § 402.14(g)(2)–(3), (8) ..................................9

50 C.F.R. § 402.14(g)(5) ....................................... 13, 22

50 C.F.R. § 402.14(g)(5), (h)(2) .................................. 15

50 C.F.R. § 402.14(h)(2), (3) ........................................8

Federal Register Notices

Interagency Cooperative Policy on Information

Standards under the Endangered Species Act, 59

Fed. Reg. 34,271 (July 1, 1994) ....................... 18, 19

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System—

Final Regulations To Establish Requirements for

Cooling Water Intake Structures at Existing

Facilities and Amend Requirements at Phase I

Facilities, 79 Fed. Reg. 48,300 (Aug. 15, 2004) .... 15

Other Authorities

Distorting Scientific Knowledge on Florida Panthers,

Union of Concerned Scientists,

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/distortingscientific-knowledge-florida-panthers .................. 25

DOI, Standardized Guidance on Compiling a

Decision File and an Administrative Record (June

27, 2006) ........................................................... 20, 21

Endangered Species Act Policies, Guidance, and

Regulations, NOAA Fisheries,

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangere

d-species-conservation/endangered-species-actguidance-policies-and-regulations ........................ 18

FWS & NMFS, Endangered Species Act Section 7

Consultation: Programmatic Biological Opinion on

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s

Issuance and Implementation of the Final

Regulations, Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act

(May 19, 2014), available at

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/consultation/opinions

/biop_epa_cwa316b_2014.pdf ................................ 10

FWS & NMFS, Endangered Species Consultation

Handbook: Procedures for Conducting

Consultation and Conference Activities Under

Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (1998) ... 25

FWS & NMFS, Memorandum of Understanding

between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the

National Marine Fisheries Service Regarding

Jurisdictional Responsibilities and Listing

Procedures under the Endangered Species Act of

1973 (1974) ...............................................................8

Gretchen T. Goldman et al., Perceived Losses of

Scientific Integrity under the Trump

Administration: A Survey of Federal Scientists,

15(4) PLOS One e0231929,

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371

/journal.pone.0231929 ........................................... 20

vii

26A Kenneth W. Graham, Jr. & Ann Murphy,

Federal Practice and Procedure: Evidence § 5680

(April 2020 update) ................................................ 18

Jacob W. Malcom & Ya-Wei Li, Data Contradict

Common Perceptions About a Controversial

Provision of the US Endangered Species Act, 112

Proc. Nat’l Acad. Sci. 15,844 (2015) ...................... 12

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

Fisheries Service Scientist Survey, Union of

Concerned Scientists (Aug. 2, 2008),

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/survey-noaafisheries-scientists ................................................. 20

NOAA, Guidelines for Compiling an Agency

Administrative Record (Dec. 21, 2012) ........... 21, 22

Salmon Experts Pressured to Change Findings,

Union of Concerned Scientists (Dec. 2, 2008),

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/salmon-expertspressured-change-findings .................................... 25

Science Regarding Endangered Species Act

Manipulated, Union of Concerned Scientists (Aug.

14, 2008),

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/scienceregarding-endangered-species-act-manipulated .. 25

Survey: US Fish & Wildlife Service Scientists, Union

of Concerned Scientists (July 11, 2008),

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/survey-us-fishwildlife-service-scientists ...................................... 20

Gerald Wetlaufer, Justifying Secrecy: An Objection to

the General Deliberative Privilege, 65 Ind. L.J. 845

(1990) ........................................................................6

INTEREST OF THE AMICI CURIAE1

Amici are former officials of the National Marine

Fisheries Service (“NMFS”), the Department of the Interior (“DOI”), and the United States Environmental

Protection Agency (“EPA”). Collectively, they have

decades of experience in the implementation of the

Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) and therefore have

an interest in its proper implementation. As scientists, they are also concerned with the integrity of decisionmaking under the ESA and are particularly concerned that a reversal of the decision of the Court of

Appeals will disrupt the implementation of the ESA

by seriously undermining the transparency of the consultation process.

Amicus Andrew A. Rosenberg, Ph.D., is director of

the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of

Concerned Scientists. He has more than 30 years of

experience in government service and academic and

non-profit leadership. He is the author of scores of

peer-reviewed studies and reports on fisheries and

ocean management and has published on the intersection between science and policy making. Dr. Rosenberg previously served as Chief Scientist at Conservation International and Dean of Life Sciences at the

University of New Hampshire. He was a National

Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration

1 Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 37.6, amici curiae state that

no counsel for any party authored this brief either in whole or in

part and that no person or entity, aside from amici and their

counsel, made any monetary contribution to the preparation or

submission of this brief. Pursuant to Rule 37.3(a), amici state

that counsel of record for Petitioners and Respondent have consented to the filing of this brief.

(“NOAA”) scientist, then NOAA Fisheries Regional

Administrator in the Northeastern United States, and

then Deputy Director of NMFS.

Amicus Jacob M. Carter, Ph.D., is the research scientist of the Center for Science and Democracy at the

Union of Concerned Scientists. In this role, he studies

and publishes research on the process by which science informs policy decisions. Dr. Carter also is an

ecologist and evolutionary biologist and has published

many papers in his field. Dr. Carter previously served

as a postdoctoral fellow with EPA and worked for the

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

as an intern.

Amicus Joel Clement is a Senior Fellow at the

Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science

and International Affairs and a Research Affiliate

with the Stockholm Environment Institute. Prior to

joining the Harvard Belfer Center, Mr. Clement

served as Director of the Office of Policy Analysis for

seven years at DOI, where he provided a bridge between science and policy matters for the Office of the

Secretary. A forest ecologist, Joel developed and contributed to research programs in temperate and tropical ecosystems around the world. He has published

on science and policy matters in both scholarly and

federal government reports and articles.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

The purpose of the Freedom of Information Act

(“FOIA”) is to promote government accountability and

an informed citizenry. It does so by ensuring the public has access to information regarding both what the

government does and why it takes those actions. Accordingly, although FOIA incorporates nine exemptions to its general disclosure mandate, this Court interprets those exemptions narrowly. In applying the

deliberative process privilege under exemption 5, in

particular, courts adopt a functional approach under

which documents may be withheld only if their disclosure will harm the decisionmaking process by discouraging candor among agency staff.

In this case, the documents that Petitioners assert

are protected by the deliberative process privilege are

draft Biological Opinions prepared under section 7 of

the ESA. Section 7 requires that federal agencies proposing actions that might harm threatened or endangered species (collectively, “listed species”) consult

with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (“FWS”) and

NMFS (collectively, the “Services”). If, when reviewing an agency proposal, the Services conclude that it

could jeopardize the continued existence of a listed

species or destroy or adversely modify its critical habitat, they document this finding in a Biological Opinion.

Biological Opinions are not merely recommendations, but documents that carry real legal and practical weight. If a federal agency persists with an action

that the Services have found will cause jeopardy, the

action may be struck down as unlawful and may result

in liability for “take” of listed species. This weight is

not lessened by the fact that a Biological Opinion is

labeled “draft.” In fact, it is through the sharing of a

draft “jeopardy” Biological Opinion that the Services

typically exercise their authority in an ESA consultation. In response to the receipt of a draft jeopardy

finding, the action agency usually modifies its proposal to address the Services’ concerns, resulting in

the issuance of a final Biological Opinion with a nojeopardy finding. Multiple published judicial decisions reflect this process, and even the sequence of

events in this case demonstrate it in action. Draft

“jeopardy” Biological Opinions that reflect decisions

adopted by the Services, like those at issue in this

case, are therefore not merely interim steps, but instead legal and policy decisions with real force and effect.

Moreover, the public disclosure of draft Biological

Opinions will not chill the candor of staff at the Services. The assumption of a chilling effect is a theory

with no empirical support that is particularly unlikely

in the case of science-driven processes like ESA consultation. In addition, the Services have issued guidance indicating that significant drafts such as those at

stake here should be included in the administrative

record and, pursuant to this guidance, have frequently

released draft Biological Opinions to the public. As a

result, staff at the Services do not have any expectation that these drafts and the scientific evidence they

contain will be kept confidential.

While there is thus little evidence that the withholding of draft Biological Opinions would serve the

purposes that the deliberative process privilege seeks

to advance, the disclosure of such documents promotes

important public interests. In particular, it fulfils

FOIA’s purpose of ensuring public disclosure of the

reasons underlying the policies that agencies adopt,

and thus promotes public accountability and scientific

transparency.

ARGUMENT

FOIA’s Purpose is to Promote Transparent

and Accountable Decisionmaking and this

Court Therefore Interprets its Exemptions

Narrowly

The goal of FOIA is “to open agency action to the

light of public scrutiny.” Dep’t of the Air Force v. Rose,

425 U.S. 352, 372 (1976). It does so by “permit[ting]

access to official information long shielded unnecessarily from public view and . . . creat[ing] a judicially

enforceable public right to secure such information

from possibly unwilling official hands.” EPA v. Mink,

410 U.S. 73, 80 (1973). “The basic purpose of FOIA is

to ensure an informed citizenry, vital to the functioning of a democratic society, needed to check against

corruption and to hold the governors accountable to

the governed.” NLRB v. Robbins Tire & Rubber Co.,

437 U.S. 214, 242 (1978).

Accordingly, “virtually every document generated

by an agency is available in one form or another, unless it falls within one of the Act’s nine exemptions.”

NLRB v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 421 U.S. 132, 136

(1975); see 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1)–(9). Given that the

overall purpose of FOIA is to encourage disclosure,

this Court has repeatedly emphasized that courts

must construe these exemptions narrowly. See, e.g.,

U.S. Dep’t of the Interior v. Klamath Water Users Protective Ass’n, 532 U.S. 1, 7–8 (2001); U.S. Dep’t of Justice v. Tax Analysts, 492 U.S. 136, 151 (1989); Dep’t of

Justice v. Julian, 486 U.S. 1, 8 (1988); cf. United

States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 710 (1974) (Evidentiary

privileges “are not lightly created nor expansively construed, for they are in derogation of the search for

truth.”). The government therefore has the burden to

prove that a requested document falls within one of

FOIA’s exemptions. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3).

Exemption 5 allows agencies to withhold “interagency or intra-agency memorandums or letters

which would not be available by law to a party other

than an agency in litigation with the agency.” 5

U.S.C. § 552(b)(5). This provision shields “those documents, and only those documents, normally privileged in the civil discovery context.” Sears, 421 U.S.

at 149. “Exemption 5 is to be construed ‘as narrowly

as consistent with efficient Government operation.’”

Petroleum Info. Corp. v. U.S. Dep’t of Interior, 976

F.2d 1429, 1434 (D.C. Cir. 1992) (quoting Mink, 410

U.S. at 87).

One of the privileges incorporated by Exemption 5

is the “deliberative process privilege,” which applies

to “documents reflecting advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations comprising part of a

process by which governmental decisions and policies

are formulated.” Klamath Water Users Protective

Ass’n, 532 U.S. at 8 (citations and internal quotation

marks omitted). First recognized in the United States

in the 1950s, this privilege is based on the idea that,

for government agencies, “secrecy is necessary to candor, . . . candor is necessary to effective decisionmaking by the executive, and . . . enhancing the effectiveness of executive decisionmaking serves the public interest.”2

2 Gerald Wetlaufer, Justifying Secrecy: An Objection to the Gen-

eral Deliberative Privilege, 65 Ind. L.J. 845, 849 (1990).

In deciding whether documents are covered by the

privilege, courts “focus on the effect of the materials’

release.” Dudman Commc’ns Corp. v. Dep’t of Air

Force, 815 F.2d 1565, 1568 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (emphasis

added). Therefore, the privilege “applies only if disclosure of [the] materials would expose an agency’s decisionmaking process in such a way as to discourage

candid discussion within the agency and thereby undermine the agency’s ability to perform its functions.”

Kowack v. U.S. Forest Serv., 766 F.3d 1130, 1135 (9th

Cir. 2014) (citations and internal quotation marks

omitted) (alteration in original); accord Nat. Res. Def.

Council v. EPA, 954 F.3d 150, 158 (2d Cir. 2020) (“The

‘key question’ we keep in mind when assessing the application of the deliberative process privilege to an

agency record is ‘whether disclosure would tend to diminish candor within an agency.’”) (quoting Petroleum

Info. Corp., 976 F.2d at 1435).

II. ESA Consultation is a Science-Driven Process in Which the Services Wield Considerable Power

A. The Services’ Role in the Consultation

Process is to Provide a Science-Based

Check on Action Agency Proposals

Under section 7 of the ESA, federal agencies must

“insure that any action authorized, funded, or carried

out by such agency . . . is not likely to jeopardize the

continued existence” or “result in the destruction or

adverse modification” of critical habitat of listed species. 16 U.S.C. § 1536(a)(2). To this end, any agency

proposing an action (the “action agency”) must consult, formally and/or informally, with one or both of

the Services.3

If the action “may affect listed species or critical

habitat,” 50 C.F.R. § 402.14(a), then the action agency

must engage in formal consultation, during which the

Services prepare a “written statement” describing

“how the agency action affects the species or its critical habitat.” 16 U.S.C. § 1536(b)(3)(A). This statement, which the Services refer to as a “Biological

Opinion,” must include a “detailed discussion of the

effects of the action on listed species or critical habitat” and the Services’ “opinion on whether the action

is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a

listed species or result in the destruction or adverse

modification of critical habitat.”4

50 C.F.R. §

402.14(h)(2), (3).

If the Services conclude that an action will cause

jeopardy, then they must “suggest those reasonable

and prudent alternatives” available to the action

3 The FWS fulfills this consultation role under the ESA for ter-

restrial and freshwater species, while NMFS does so for marine

and anadromous species. FWS & NMFS, Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the

National Marine Fisheries Service Regarding Jurisdictional Responsibilities and Listing Procedures under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (1974), available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/endangered-species-act-guidance-policies-and-regulations.

4 For the sake of brevity, this brief refers to either a finding that

an action is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed

species or that it is likely to result in the destruction or adverse

modification of critical habitat as a “jeopardy” finding.

agency that would avoid jeopardy. 16 U.S.C. §

1536(b)(3)(A). If instead the Services conclude that

the action will not cause jeopardy, they do not need to

identify such alternatives and instead will issue an

“Incidental Take Statement,” which serves as a safe

harbor from liability for any “takes” of listed species

that arise from the action. 16 U.S.C. § 1536(b)(4).

The Services’ role in this process is based on their

scientific expertise. For example, Biological Opinions

must include “a summary of the information on which

the opinion is based, detailing how the agency action

affects the species or its critical habitat.” 16 U.S.C. §

1536(b)(3)(A). In carrying out this task, the Services

must “[e]valuate the current status of the listed species or critical habitat,” “[e]valuate the effects of the

action and cumulative effects on the listed species or

critical habitat,” and “use the best scientific and commercial data available.” 50 C.F.R. § 402.14(g)(2)–(3),

(8). As multiple courts of appeals have held, a Biological Opinion may “be invalid if it fails to use the best

available scientific information.” Pac. Coast Fed’n of

Fishermen’s Ass’ns v. NMFS, 265 F.3d 1028, 1034 (9th

Cir. 2001); accord Defs. of Wildlife v. U.S. Dep’t of the

Interior, 931 F.3d 339, 345 (4th Cir. 2019); Miccosukee

Tribe of Indians of Fla. v. United States, 566 F.3d

1257, 1265 (11th Cir. 2009).

A description of the 85-page final Biological Opinion issued by the Services at the end of the consultation at issue in this case illustrates the scientific nature of the document.5 The first quarter of the opinion

5 The full final Biological Opinion is available on EPA’s website.

FWS & NMFS, Endangered Species Act Section 7 Consultation:

Programmatic Biological Opinion on the U.S. Environmental

consists of a detailed description of the proposed action (an EPA rule regarding Clean Water Act standards for cooling-water intake structures), including a

summary of permitting requirements for owners and

operators of plants subject to the rule as well as requirements for the agency responsible for making permitting decisions. Final BiOp at 2–17. After summarizing the Services’ analytical methods, which including “us[ing] the best available scientific and commercial data,” id. at 17–18, the document goes on to describe the status of the affected species, id. at 21–28;

establish an environmental baseline, id. at 28–34, the

purpose of which is to “describe[s] the condition of the

listed species/critical habitat that exist in the action

area in the absence of the action subject to consultation,” id. at 28; and provide an extensive description

of the effects of the action against this baseline, id. at

35–66. This last section goes into significant detail,

identifying stressors on species resulting from impacts such as chemical discharges, flow alteration,

and other aggregate impacts, and then discussing the

most scientifically-sound ways to monitor and reduce

these impacts. Following a bibliography summarizing

the scientific papers used in creating the report, id. at

80–85, is a 253-page appendix that includes the extensive scientific data supporting the reasoning in the Bi-

Protection Agency’s Issuance and Implementation of the Final

Regulations, Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (May 19,

2014)

[hereinafter

“Final

BiOp”],

available

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-04/documents/final_316b_bo_and_appendices_5_19_2014.pdf .

ological Opinion. The document does not contain policy discussions; it is a technical document meant to

convey the Services’ expert knowledge.

Essentially, a Biological Opinion is the outcome of

the process of compiling and synthesizing scientific information. While the Services must make choices as

to the weight of evidence, these choices are fundamentally different from policy decisions on actions government agencies should take in the public interest.

Weighing the evidence is inherent in the determination of what is the “best available science,” and how

that determination is made should be as open as possible.

B. When the Services Reach a Jeopardy

Conclusion, that Decision Carries Significant Practical Weight

The Biological Opinion, while “theoretically

serv[ing] an ‘advisory function,’” in fact “has a powerful coercive effect on the action agency.” Bennett v.

Spear, 520 U.S. 154, 169 (1997). In particular, “the

Biological Opinion and accompanying Incidental Take

Statement alter the legal regime to which the action

agency is subject, authorizing it to take the endangered species if (but only if) it complies with the prescribed conditions.” Id. at 178. An action agency that

“proceed[s] with its proposed action” despite the Services’ determination that the action will cause jeopardy or adverse modification faces “a substantial risk

that its (inexpert) reasons turn out to be wrong.” Id.

at 170. In particular, the action may be struck down

as unlawful, TVA v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153, 193-94 (1978),

and—without the safe harbor provided by the Incidental Take Statement—may result in liability for

“take” of listed species, Bennett, 520 U.S. at 170. As a

result, “the action agency rarely, if ever, chooses to

disregard the terms and conditions of an Incidental

Take Statement.” Arizona Cattle Growers’ Ass’n v.

FWS, 273 F.3d 1229, 1240 (9th Cir. 2001).

C. The Fact that a Biological Opinion is Labeled “Draft” Does not Lessen its Impact

This “coercive effect” is not diminished by the fact

that a Biological Opinion is labeled “draft.” When the

consultation process works as intended, an action

agency will modify its proposal in response to the Services’ preparation of a draft jeopardy opinion. As a

result, the Services rarely issue a final “jeopardy” Biological Opinion.6 Instead, it is through the sharing

of their jeopardy conclusions in “draft” documents

that the Services exercise their authority in the ESA

consultation process.

The Services’ consultation regulations embody the

assumption that the Services will convey their “jeopardy” determinations to action agencies through

“draft” documents. Under these regulations, once the

Services have determined that an action will cause

“jeopardy,” they must, “[i]f requested, make available

to the Federal agency the draft biological opinion for

6 A review of 6,829 FWS formal consultations between 2008 and

2015 found that only two resulted in the issuance of a final, jeopardy Biological Opinion. Jacob W. Malcom & Ya-Wei Li, Data

Contradict Common Perceptions About a Controversial Provision

of the US Endangered Species Act, 112 Proc. Nat’l Acad. Sci.

15,844, 15,848 (2015). The authors identified the modification of

agency proposals in response to the Services’ preparation of draft

jeopardy Biological Opinions as one reason for the extremely low

number of final jeopardy opinions. Id. at 15,847.

the purpose of analyzing the reasonable and prudent

alternatives” that the Services have identified pursuant to their jeopardy conclusion.

50 C.F.R. §

402.14(g)(5). Because federal agencies know that

their proposed action will not survive in court in the

face of a “jeopardy” determination, cf. Bennett, 520

U.S. at 170, they typically respond to the receipt of

such a draft by modifying their proposal to reduce the

harm to listed species. If the Services are satisfied

that these modifications will prevent the action from

causing jeopardy, the Services then release a final Biological Opinion with a no-jeopardy conclusion.

Several cases demonstrate the power of a draft

jeopardy Biological Opinion in action. For example, in

Selkirk Conservation Alliance v. Forsgren, 336 F.3d

944 (9th Cir. 2003), a timber company sought an easement across part of the Colville National Forest to

reach inholdings on which it intended to harvest trees.

The FWS initially completed a draft Biological Opinion, in which it concluded that granting the easement

would cause jeopardy for some listed species. Id. at

949. In response, the U.S. Forest Service, FWS, and

the timber company negotiated a Conservation Agreement that would mitigate some of the effects of the

easement. The FWS subsequently produced a final

Biological Opinion. “Relying heavily on the mitigating effects of the Conservation Agreement . . ., the

opinion concluded that the [easement] would not jeopardize any of the threatened or endangered species in

the area.” Id. at 950.

Similarly, in Nat’l Audubon Soc’y v. FWS, 55 F.

Supp. 2d 316 (E.D.N.Y. 2014), the FWS prepared a

draft Biological Opinion for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Army Corps”) beach construction project,

which concluded that the project “was likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the piping plover,”

id. at 324, a beach-nesting shorebird. In response, the

Army Corps, FWS, and other cooperating agencies development “conservation measures to minimize impacts to the piping plover.” Id. FWS issued a final

Biological Opinion, in which it found that the project

would not cause jeopardy, relying on the conservation

measures, a decision that was subsequently upheld in

court. Id. at 354.

Several other cases similarly involve the modification of proposals following the Services’ issuance of a

draft jeopardy Biological Opinion. See, e.g., Idaho

Rivers United v. Foss, 373 F. Supp. 2d 1158, 1159 (D.

Idaho 2005) (FWS and applicant for Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission license entered into settlement agreement following issuance of draft jeopardy

Biological Opinion); Hayward Area Planning Ass’n v.

Norton, No. C 00-4211 SI, 2004 WL 724950, at *1

(N.D. Cal. Mar. 29, 2004) (applicant for permit from

Army Corps modified its proposed development after

FWS issued draft jeopardy Biological Opinion). In

each of these cases, it was the Services’ conclusion, in

a draft Biological Opinion, that the proposed action

would jeopardize listed species that resulted in modifications to the proposal that would reduce or mitigate

the harm to the species.

This kind of process was exemplified by the events

underlying this case. In the fall of 2013, EPA developed what was intended to be a “final rule.” J.A. 89-

90. In response, the Services drafted Biological Opinions embodying the conclusion that EPA’s rule would

jeopardize listed species and adversely affect listed

species’ critical habitat. As the Ninth Circuit properly

concluded, the draft Biological Opinions “represent[ed] the final view of the Services regarding the

then-current November 2013 proposed rule.” Pet.

App. 18a. In December 2013, the Services communicated to EPA their conclusions that the rule would violate the jeopardy prohibition. J.A. 102. While the

Services did not send the Biological Opinions themselves to EPA, they did send a set of possible reasonable and prudent alternatives—alternatives that are

required under the ESA only in response to a jeopardy

determination.

J.A. 106-07; see 16 U.S.C. §

1536(b)(3)(A); 50 C.F.R. § 402.14(g)(5), (h)(2). In response, after additional communications among the

Services and EPA, EPA modified the rule to address

the Services’ concerns. National Pollutant Discharge

Elimination System—Final Regulations To Establish

Requirements for Cooling Water Intake Structures at

Existing Facilities and Amend Requirements at Phase

I Facilities, 79 Fed. Reg. 48,300, 48,327 (Aug. 15,

2004) (explaining that during the consultation process

“EPA made a number of adjustments to the rule to

protect threatened and endangered species and designated critical habitat”). With these modifications in

place, the Services finalized a no-jeopardy Biological

Opinion.

Thus it is through the preparation of draft “jeopardy” Biological Opinions that the Services exercise

their power in the consultation process. Regardless of

whether such a draft opinion carries the “force of law,”

it is “a decision . . . which has real operative effect,”

Sears, 421 U.S. at 160, and is a far cry from the mere

“recommendations” of lower-level staff to a supervisor. Pet. Br. 19.

For these reasons, the government’s reliance on

the D.C. Circuit’s decision in National Security Archive is misplaced. See Pet. Br. at 39 (citing National

Security Archive v. CIA, 752 F.3d 460 (D.C. Cir.

2014)). In that case, the court held that even in situations where there was “no final agency document because a draft died on the vine,” a “draft is still a draft

and thus still pre-decisional and deliberative.” Nat’l

Security Archive, 752 F.3d at 463. The “dying on the

vine” analogy is inapt because here the draft jeopardy

Biological Opinions were the Services’ final word on

the then-current version of EPA’s rule and had their

intended effect of producing changes in the action

agency proposal.

III. The Disclosure of Draft Biological Opinions

Will Not Chill Candid Discussion at the Services

For at least three reasons, disclosure of the draft

consultation documents will not “discourage candid

discussion within the agency and thereby undermine

the agency’s ability to perform its functions.” Kowack,

766 F.3d at 1135. First, there is no empirical support

for the assumption that disclosure of documents allegedly subject to the deliberative process privilege ever

chills candid discussions by agency staff. Such a

chilling effect is particularly unlikely in the case of science-driven processes like ESA consultation. Second,

the Services have issued guidance indicating that significant drafts such as those at stake here should be

included in administrative records. Third, pursuant

to this guidance, the Services regularly release draft

Biological Opinions to the public. As a result, staff at

the Services do not, in our experience, have any expectation that these drafts and the scientific evidence

they contain will be kept confidential.

A. There is Little Evidence for a Chilling

Effect from Disclosure in General and

Such an Effect is Especially Unlikely in

the Case of Draft Biological Opinions

Disclosing draft Biological Opinions generally will

not discourage candid discussion within the Services.

Except in rare cases involving particularly-sensitive

policymaking, there is little support for the assumption that disclosure will chill staff candor. This

chilling effect is particularly unlikely for draft Biological Opinions because they are primarily scientific and

factual documents.

The deliberative process privilege is premised on

the idea that disclosing deliberative documents will

hinder the frank exchange of views among agency

staff. Yet, “[t]he evidence that has been proffered by

the executive is nothing but the repeated recitation of

the bare conclusory assertion that disclosure will

cause chilling.”7 As expressed by a leading treatise,

the idea “that government bureaucrats will not feel

free to express their opinions fully and candidly when

they fear that their views will be made public” is a

“dubious empirical assumption[].” 26A Kenneth W.

Graham, Jr. & Ann Murphy, Federal Practice and

7 Wetlaufer, supra note 2, at 886–87.

Procedure: Evidence § 5680 (April 2020 update). Accordingly, the authors of the treatise conclude, “[t]he

deliberative process privilege should seldom be upheld in a case where there is any need for the evidence

because it rests on such a puny instrumental rationale.” Id.

Such a chilling effect is particularly unlikely in

the case of scientific processes like ESA consultation.

As indicated above, consultation is a science-driven

process in which Congress has mandated that the Services “shall use the best scientific and commercial

data available.” 16 U.S.C. § 1536(a)(2). The scientific

analysis and summary data as well as methods and

results are not private for ESA listings, even if some

data sets may contain confidential information that

prevents releasing raw data (e.g. locations of last remaining individuals of a listed species). The work of

many scientists is usually and properly considered in

preparing a draft Biological Opinion. The information

in that sense is not closely held and should not be.

The Services’ Interagency Cooperative Policy on

Information Standards under the Endangered Species

Act, 59 Fed. Reg. 34,271 (July 1, 1994),8 is instructive

in this regard. This policy requires that agency scientists “evaluate all scientific and other information

that will be used to . . . prepare biological opinions.”

Id. at 34,271. In doing so, the scientists must “gather

and impartially evaluate biological, ecological, and

8 This policy is still in effect.

See Endangered Species Act Policies,

Guidance,

and

Regulations,

NOAA

Fisheries,

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-speciesconservation/endangered-species-act-guidance-policies-and-regulations (last visited July 30, 2020).

other information that disputes official positions, decisions, and actions proposed or taken by the Services

during their implementation of the Act.” Id. (emphasis added). They must also “document their evaluation of information that supports or does not support a

position being proposed as an official agency position

on . . . interagency consultation.” Id. (emphasis

added). When more senior scientific staff review these

documents, they are charged with “verify[ing] and assur[ing] the quality of the science used to establish official positions, decisions, and actions taken by the

Services during their implementation of the Act.” Id.

(emphasis added).

This policy establishes two key points. First, it

emphasizes the objective, scientific nature of the task

that the Services undertake when preparing a Biological Opinion. Second, because the policy requires that

agency scientists include information on both sides of

a scientific question in a Biological Opinion, it undermines any suggestion that the disclosure of a draft Biological Opinion will have a chilling effect on the candor of agency staff.

In fact, surveys of staff from the Services and

other federal agencies demonstrate that it is not public disclosure of their scientific analyses that they fear,

but rather political interference within the agency. In

a 2018 survey on scientific integrity, hundreds of federal scientists from FWS, NMFS, and other agencies

disagreed that they could “openly express any concerns about the mission-driven work of my agency

without fear of retaliation.”9 This result echoed those

from 2005 surveys, which found that almost a third of

FWS and NMFS scientists felt that they could not express “concerns about the biological needs of species

and habitats without fear of retaliation.”10 From this

perspective, the public disclosure of their scientific

conclusions might even help protect agency scientists

from interference or retribution.

B. The Services Have Issued Guidance

Calling for the Inclusion of “Significant

Drafts” or “Drafts with Independent Legal Significance” in Administrative Records

The Services have issued guidance regarding the

preparation of administrative records indicating that

the record should include “significant drafts.” DOI (of

which the FWS is a part) requires drafts to be put into

the administrative record when they “help substantiate and evidence the decision-making process.” DOI,

Standardized Guidance on Compiling a Decision File

and an Administrative Record 10 (June 27, 2006),

https://www.nps.gov/features/foia/Standardized9 Gretchen T. Goldman et al., Perceived Losses of Scientific Integ-

rity under the Trump Administration: A Survey of Federal Scientists,

15(4)

PLOS

One

e0231929,

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0231929.

10 National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Ser-

vice Scientist Survey, Union of Concerned Scientists (Aug. 2,

2008), https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/survey-noaa-fisheriesscientists; Survey: US Fish & Wildlife Service Scientists, Union

Concerned

Scientists

(July

11,

2008),

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/survey-us-fish-wildlife-service-scientists.

Guidance-on-Compiling-and-Administrative-Record.pdf. Drafts to be included in the administrative

record include those that “contain unique information

such as an explanation of a substantive change in the

text of an earlier draft, or substantive notes that represent suggestions or analysis tracing the decision

making process.” Id. Similarly, NOAA (which includes NMFS) has guidelines directing that agencies

include both “significant drafts” and “drafts with independent legal significance” in administrative records. NOAA, Guidelines for Compiling an Agency Administrative

Record

(Dec.

21,

2012),

https://www.gc.noaa.gov/documents/2012/AR_Guidelines_122112-Final.pdf. NOAA’s guidelines provide

that:

Significant drafts must be included in the Administrative Record if ideas in the draft reflect

significant input into the decision-making

process. Significant input may exist, for example, if the document reflects alternative approaches, grounded in fact, science, or law, to

resolving a particular issue or alternative interpretations of factual, scientific, or legal inputs. Significant drafts must be identified for

inclusion in the Administrative Record, but

flagged for potential listing, in whole or in

part, on the agency’s Privilege Log.

Id. Similarly, NOAA’s guidelines on drafts with independent legal significance state that: “Final draft documents with independent legal significance, such as

final draft environmental impact statements, are to be

included in the Administrative Record and will not be

flagged for potential listing on the agency’s Privilege

Log.” Id. As final drafts of congressionally-mandated

ESA documents, the December 2013 Biological Opinions are drafts with independent legal significance

that employees would expect to be included in the administrative record under these agency guidelines. In

addition, these guidance documents are inconsistent

with Petitioners’ argument that documents are subject to the deliberative process privilege merely because they are labeled “draft.”

These guidance documents build on the Services’

regulations, which specify that draft Biological Opinions must be shared upon request not just with the

action agency, but also with any private “applicant”

(as when the underlying agency action is the grant of

a permit or other approval). 50 C.F.R. § 402.14(g)(5).

This regulation demonstrates that draft Biological

Opinions are not documents that agency scientists

would expect to be kept confidential.

C. Pursuant to this Guidance, the Services

Routinely Place Draft Biological Opinions in the Administrative Record or

Otherwise Release Them to the Public

The disclosure of draft Biological Opinions also

would not chill candor among staff at the Services because such documents are regularly included in the

public administrative record. Accordingly, staff have

no reason to expect that these documents will be withheld in the first place.

There are numerous judicial decisions that mention the Services’ inclusion in the administrative record—and consequent public release—of draft Biological Opinions. See, e.g., Selkirk Conservation Alliance,

336 F.3d at 949; Idaho Rivers United v. FERC, 189

Fed. App’x 629, 637 (9th Cir. 2006); Pac. Coast Fed’n

of Fishermen’s Ass’ns v. Gutierrez, 606 F. Supp. 2d

1122, 1157 (E.D. Cal. 2008); San Francisco Baykeeper

v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs, 219 F. Supp. 2d 1001,

1010 (N.D. Cal. 2002); Hells Canyon Pres. Council v.

Jacoby, 9 F. Supp. 2d 1216, 1226 (D. Or. 1998); Southwest Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Bureau of

Reclamation, 6 F. Supp. 2d 1119, 1123 (D. Ariz. 1997);

see also Section I.C, supra (discussing cases in which

the action agency modified its proposal after receiving

a jeopardy draft Biological Opinion). In Idaho Rivers

United v. FERC, for example, FWS publicly released

a jeopardy draft Biological Opinion and then a nonjeopardy final Biological Opinion. 189 Fed. App’x at

637. The record submitted to the court below also includes several examples of administrative records released by the Services that contain draft Biological

Opinions. See SER 163-199.

This routine practice of publicly disclosing draft

Biological Opinions undermines the government’s asserted need for a bright-line rule to promote candor by

agency staff. See Pet. Br. 25. If the Services’ scientists

are accustomed to the public disclosure of their analyses in draft Biological Opinions, then a court ordering the release of such opinions pursuant to FOIA

could have no effect on their incentives to be candid in

their recommendations. Moreover, despite this history of disclosure, the Petitioners point to no examples

of ESA consultations in which scientists or other staff

at the Services have carried out flawed analyses because they feared the disclosure of their conclusions

in a draft Biological Opinion.

IV. The Disclosure of Draft Biological Opinions

Ensures Scientific Transparency and Public

Accountability

The disclosure of draft Biological Opinions allows

the public to ensure that the Services fulfill their duty

to rely upon the best scientific data available. Such

disclosure thus fulfils FOIA’s purpose of ensuring

public disclosure of “the reasons which did supply the

basis for an agency policy actually adopted.” Sears,

421 U.S. at 152.

As explained above, a draft “jeopardy” Biological

Opinion typically functions to drive the action agency

to modify its proposed action in a way that avoids jeopardy. See Section II.C, supra. Courts, regulated industries, the scientific community, and the public at

large can only determine whether the modifications in

fact achieve this goal by comparing the initial finding

of jeopardy with the final, modified agency action. In

particular, these drafts allow the public to follow the

logic of the decision process and understand where the

Services draw the line between jeopardy and no-jeopardy. Removing parts of this logic chain makes it significantly harder to understand why the government

has taken any given action.

Such disclosure is particularly important to the

scientific community. Biological Opinions provide important information about the status of listed species,

threats to them, and potential mitigation and recovery measures. “Successive biological opinions can be

used to monitor trends in the species’ baseline, making predictions of the impacts of future actions more

reliable.” FWS & NMFS, Endangered Species Consul-

tation Handbook: Procedures for Conducting Consultation and Conference Activities Under Section 7 of the

Endangered Species Act, at 4-2 (1998). For example,

if scientists want to review at a later date whether the

reasonable and prudent alternatives developed in the

consultation process actually achieved their intended

result, then access to the draft Biological Opinion will

help them carry out this analysis.

Such disclosure is especially important when

there is a risk of political interference with scientific

decisionmaking. Amici do not suggest that such interference took place in this case, but if the deliberative process privilege is allowed to mask the nature of

an agency’s decisionmaking, it may be impossible for

courts and the public to determine whether it has occurred.11 Public disclosure and judicial review help to

ensure that the considerable effort and resources expended by scientists and other staff at the Services to

create Biological Opinions based on the best scientific

data available will not be improperly overturned by

appointees more sensitive to changing political winds.

11 Whistleblowers from the Services have in other cases credibly

alleged political interference with the development of Biological

Opinions. See, e.g., Distorting Scientific Knowledge on Florida

Panthers,

Union

Concerned

Scientists,

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/distorting-scientificknowledge-florida-panthers; Salmon Experts Pressured to

Change Findings, Union of Concerned Scientists (Dec. 2, 2008),

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/salmon-experts-pressuredchange-findings; Science Regarding Endangered Species Act Manipulated, Union of Concerned Scientists (Aug. 14, 2008),

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/science-regarding-endangered-species-act-manipulated.

Thus, instead of suppressing scientists’ ability to perform effectively their role as experts in the section 7

consultation process, public scrutiny and judicial review enabled by FOIA disclosure protects these scientists’ work from political decisions that might fail to

meet the congressional mandate to rely on the best

scientific data available.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, the Court should affirm

the judgment of the court of appeals.

Respectfully submitted,