ELR Citation: 49 ELR 20047
No(s). 3:18-cv-00029-SLG (D. Alaska Mar 29, 2019) (Gleason, J.)

A district court vacated DOI's decision to enter into a land exchange agreement to facilitate construction of a road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Conservation groups argued the agreement violated the APA because DOI failed to provide justification for reversing previous findings that the refuge would be irretrievably damaged by construction of the proposed road and that there were viable alternatives that would protect residents' health and safety. The court found the agreement did not contain any acknowledgement that DOI's decision to enter into it constituted a fundamental change in agency policy and, rather, reversed the previous policy without any reasoned explanation for the change of course with respect to the existence of viable alternatives. Further, DOI ignored its prior determinations concerning the road's environmental impact on the refuge without providing any reasoned explanation for the change. The court therefore found that the agency's decision to enter into the agreement constituted an unlawful agency action in violation of the APA, and vacated the decision.