Forest Owners Welcome Supreme Court Decision Reversing Ninth Circuit on Forest Roads, Urge Congressional Action

WASHINGTON, DC, March 21, 2013 – The National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) today welcomed a U.S. Supreme Court decision reversing a May 2011 ruling from the U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (NEDC v. Brown) that forest roads used for timber harvest require Clean Water Act (CWA) industrial stormwater discharge permits typically applied to factories and other facilities.

“The Supreme Court did the right thing by reversing the Ninth Circuit on forest roads,” said Dave Tenny, NAFO President and CEO. “The Court’s decision validates EPA’s longstanding policy that rainwater runoff from forest roads is best addressed through state adopted best management practices.”

Although the decision overturns the Ninth Circuit ruling, federal, state, county, tribal and private forest owners nationwide remain vulnerable to new litigation, such as a recently filed case in the Ninth Circuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) December 2012 amendment to its stormwater discharge rule clarifying that forestry operations do not require CWA permits.

“We are clearly not out of the woods on litigation,” Tenny said. “The plaintiffs have already teed up the next round of lawsuits and told the Supreme Court they will not stop until permits are required.  The best way to break the litigation cycle and resolve this issue is through legislation clarifying once and for all that forest roads are not point sources.”

In January of 2013, plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in the Ninth Circuit challenging EPA’s new rule, contending that forest roads are point sources under the statute.  NAFO has intervened in the case, along with several other groups, to help preserve EPA’s 37-year policy defining forestry and forest roads as nonpoint sources most effectively addressed at the state level through best management practices.

“Congress must give clear direction that the Ninth Circuit may not legislate from the bench.  Because EPA’s new industrial stormwater rule applies nationally, the Ninth Circuit’s decision on the rule will apply nationwide, causing considerable uncertainty for state and local governments and forest owners throughout the country,” Tenny concluded.

NAFO is working with a broad coalition of groups and bipartisan leaders in Congress to enact permanent legislation that will preserve the existing EPA regulations and provide long-term legal certainty to federal, state, county, tribal and private forest owners.

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NAFO is an organization of private forest owners committed to advancing federal policies that promote the economic and environmental benefits of privately-owned forests at the national level. NAFO membership encompasses more than 80 million acres of private forestland in 47 states. Working forests in the U.S. support 2.5 million jobs. To see the full economic impact of America’s working forests, visit www.nafoalliance.org/economic-impact-report.