§6515 Special administrative review process

Summary

The Secretary of Agriculture must issue interim final rules no later than 30 days after December 3, 2003, to set up a pre-decision review process that is the only way to seek administrative review of an authorized hazardous fuel reduction project on Forest Service land. That review happens after the environmental assessment or environmental impact statement is finished and ends when the final project decision is issued. To join the review, a person must send specific written comments about the proposed action during scoping or the public comment period for the draft environmental analysis. The interim rules take effect when issued, and the Secretary must later issue final rules after allowing public comment. A person can sue in federal district court over such a project only after using the Secretary’s review process or the Department of the Interior’s hearings and appeals. A court will only consider issues that were raised in the administrative review. A court may allow an exception if it finds the administrative process would be futile or inadequate for that person or claim. If an agency failed to provide needed information on time, a court should decide whether the review process was inadequate for claims that relied on that information.