The Procedural Impact of an Environmental Impact Statement on Judicial Review

Abstract

On a sunny summer day in 2014, Drakes Bay Oyster Company closed its doors to the public, admitting defeat in a years-long fight with the Department of the Interior over the renewal of its operating permit. The Secretary of the Interior believed that the region’s designation as “potential wilderness” under the Point Reyes Wilderness Act, along with public policy considerations, obligated him to decline renewal of the permit. In producing an Environmental Impact Statement regarding the impact of closing the farm, the Secretary procedurally insulated his agency decision from later judicial review in Drakes Bay Oyster Company v. Jewell.