ELR Citation: ELR 20104
No(s). 04-16003 (9th Cir. Jun 8, 2006)

The court upholds a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rule conditionally allowing the importation of Spanish clementines into the United States. Domestic fruit growers, concerned about the infestation of Mediterranean fruit flies, challenge the rule. They argued that the USDA must identify the level of risk it will accept in performing its duty "to prevent the introduction into the United States . . . of a plant pest" under the Plant Protection Act. But the court disagrees. Although a governmental agency must "articulate a satisfactory explanation for its action including a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made," it need not define an explicit standard to guide its decisionmaking. Because the USDA articulated a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made, the rule is neither arbitrary nor capricious. The court, therefore, affirms the lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the USDA.