Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 1 of 17 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Civil Action No. 17-cv-2563-REB SAVE THE COLORADO, et al. Petitioners, v. UNITED STATES BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, et al. Respondents. RESPONDENTS’ RESPONSE TO MOTION TO SUPPLEMENT Petitioners bring claims under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) challenging approvals by the Bureau of Reclamation (“Reclamation”) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) of the privately constructed Windy Gap Firming Project (“Firming Project” or “Project”). See Am. Pet. (ECF No. 8). The Firming Project is intended to produce reliable, annual water supplies – hence the term “firming” – from the existing Windy Gap Project, owned and operated by the Municipal Subdistrict of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (Subdistrict). BOR0017706-07. After an “independent evaluation,” BOR0015256, the federal agencies concluded the Firming Project is needed to meet a portion of the existing and future water needs of the growing east slope municipalities within the Subdistrict, and the other Project beneficiaries, including west slope water users. See BOR0015250. The main feature of the Firming Project will be Chimney Hollow Reservoir, which will be entirely funded by the Project participants, see BOR0015247, and built by the 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 1 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 2 of 17 Subdistrict on land primarily owned by the Subdistrict. See BOR0017709-10. The Firming Project involves a major federal action subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) because the reservoir will be part of the Subdistrict’s Windy Gap Project, which is integrated into Reclamation’s Colorado-Big Thompson Project (“CBT”). BOR0017709-10. Federal permits are required to use C-BT facilities, BOR0017719, and because construction of Chimney Hollow Reservoir will permanently impact three acres of waters of the United States. COE0018552. The agencies’ decisions to grant those approvals are supported by an administrative record for each agency (collectively “record”). See ECF Nos. 27-32. As Petitioners note, Respondents have agreed that sixteen documents that were not listed in one or both of the agencies’ indices are part of the record. Once the indices are corrected to include those documents, the whole record – everything directly or indirectly considered by the agencies’ decision-makers – will be before this Court. Petitioners now move the Court to supplement the record with the “Buchanon Report,” a new document prepared for this litigation and unseen by the agencies’ decision makers, which asserts the agencies “overestimated” demand for water from the Project and offers competing estimates of demand for some of the Project participants. 1 Pet’rs Mot. to Suppl. the Administrative Recs. (ECF No. 33) at 2 (“Mot.”); Ex. A to Mot. at i. (ECF No. 33-1) (“Buchanon Report” or “Report”). Petitioners’ Motion should be denied for three independent reasons. 1 The Report makes projections for only eight of the then thirteen project participants. See Report at 7-36. One, the City of Evans – the participant discussed at greatest length in Petitioners’ Motion – has since withdrawn. See ECF No. 23-2 at 2. 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 2 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 3 of 17 First, Petitioners are barred from submitting the Report to this Court because they deprived the agencies of the opportunity to address the Report during the administrative process, despite conceding that the underlying data was available to them during the NEPA process, id at 3, and having submitted no less than six comment letters addressing the Final EIS. Second, Petitioners offer the Report for a plainly impermissible purpose: disputing the methodology used by the agencies experts. Third, because the Report demonstrates the agencies considered the demand for water from the Firming Project, the Report is not evidence of a gap in the NEPA process or of an omitted relevant factor, and is not necessary for this Court’s review. Factual Background Each Firming Project participant evaluated its water needs based on factors including: available supplies, population growth projections, development planning, water planning requirements, and conservation efforts. See BOR0015256-58. Reclamation and the Corps then “conducted an independent evaluation” of the participants’ water requirements, BOR0015256; COE0001142, through the 2005 “Purpose and Need Report,” BOR0004505, BOR0004314 (report appendices). The Purpose and Need Report projected long term water demand for each Project participant through 2050, or the participant’s build-out, after accounting for future water conservation improvements. See BOR0015258-66. The methods used to determine water demand for each participant differed substantially, BOR0004506, but generally were based on each participants’ planning processes (BOR0004503); Reclamation’s assessment of the participants’ firm yield goals (BOR0004503-06); 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 3 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 4 of 17 available water supplies (BOR 4508); and demographic trends (BOR 4512-15). The report concluded that the East Slope Project participants would face shortages in firm yield of 110,000 acre-feet in 2050. BOR0004549. The Firming Project is intended to produce a portion of that needed water: 30,000 acre-feet of firm yield, while also providing water needed on the west slope. BOR0004552. Petitioners suggest that “commenters repeatedly urged Reclamation and the Corps to look at” the Project participants’ “actual use” data now presented in the Buchanon Report. Mot. at 11. In fact, none of the comments cited in Petitioners’ Motion alleged that data of Project participants’ actual use of water demonstrated that the agencies’ projections of demand for water from the Project were flawed. Instead, those comments included suggestions that Reclamation should have used a different gallons per capita per day for comparative purposes (BOR004852), or in its estimations (BOR0004812, BOR0012156); 2 made unsupported allegations that there was no need for the Firming Project (BOR0009237, BOR0001559); or vaguely suggested conservation efforts could reduce the need for water (BOR0009248-49). One cited comment suggested that Reclamation had overestimated population growth rates and did not adequately integrate water conservation and efficiency 2 Western Resources Advocates suggested the per capita water use should be reduced by 25%. BOR0012156. That figure was drawn from a presentation by the Colorado Water Conservation Board, not consideration of the participants’ actual water use. Id. In any event, Reclamation explained that number was not practical for the Firming Project because it was based on a single, high use, year and included use by water providers without water conservation plans. BOR0015209. 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 4 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 5 of 17 measures. 3 BOR0015127. Among the points made in Reclamation’s response were that short term results do not necessarily undermine long term projections: The recession has indeed had an impact on growth . . . However, recessions are short-term economic phenomena, similar to economic boom growth. Long-term growth projections are normalized to “smooth out” cyclical high and low-growth periods. Id. Contrary to Petitioners’ assertion, EPA’s comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (“DEIS”) did not “urge Reclamation to re-evaluate its demand projections.” Mot. at 8. Rather, “[b]ecause demand projections are difficult to estimate,” EPA recommended an independent review by the Corps’ Institute for Water Resources of the Project participants’ future water requirements. BOR0014821. EPA also suggested that “the recent downturn in the real estate market” could slow the Project participants’ growth. Id. Reclamation’s response explained why the Project participant’s actual water use might lag the projected use: While the timing of Participant future water needs may vary from projections because of changing economic conditions or other variables, all available evidence, including recent reports from the State Water Supply Initiative, indicates that water demand for the WGFP Participants, as well [as] other water users along the Colorado Front Range, will continue to increase in the future as the population grows. BOR14822. In light of that, Reclamation concluded that “no additional reviews or studies are necessary to evaluate future water requirements or supplies.” Id. In the Final EIS, Reclamation affirmed that the projections presented in the DEIS “provide a reasonable representation of the water needs for the [Project] participants.” 3 The letter did not explain how conservation could be better integrated. Instead, it focused on water demand for the Platte River Power Authority (“PRPA”). BOR0015127. The Buchanon Report does not discuss the water needs of the PRPA. Report at 1. 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 5 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 6 of 17 BOR0015267. In reaching that conclusion, Reclamation emphasized that the Firming Project is intended “to meet the long-term future needs” of the participants. Id. (emphasis added). Petitioners cite only one of the comments on the FEIS. That comment addressed population growth, not the Project participants’ recent water use. See COE0018630. Even more telling are the comments Petitioners did not cite – their own. Starting the same month the FEIS was released (COE0012325) and ending just two months before the Corps’ Record of Decision (COE0018486), Petitioners sent the agencies no less than six formal comment letters. Those letters offered “serious concerns” with the Project (COE0012325), repeatedly requested the FEIS be supplemented (COE14531, BOR0016788, COE0015274) and contended the FEIS was “fatally flawed” in twenty-two different ways. COE0016310-13. What Petitioners’ comments did not do was allege that actual use data for the Project participants showed that the agencies’ projections of demand were flawed. Legal Background I. THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT. The National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq., “requires federal agencies to integrate environmental values into their decision-making process. . .” Wyoming v. USDA, 661 F.3d 1209, 1236 (10th Cir. 2011). The statute has two aims: ensuring that an agency consider the environmental impact of a proposed action and informs the public of that consideration.” See id. at 1236-37 (citation 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 6 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 7 of 17 omitted). NEPA accomplishes those aims through purely procedural means; “it does not mandate substantive results.” Id. at 1237 (citation omitted). NEPA’s formal public comment process gives the public the opportunity to inform the agency and improve the agency’s decision-making, but also imposes an obligation on the public. As a matter of “simple fairness” and judicial respect for agency functions, members of the public wanting to challenge an agency's compliance with NEPA are obligated to raise their contentions with the agency and allow the agency an opportunity to give those contentions meaningful consideration. Wilson v. Hodel, 758 F.2d 1369, 1372 (10th Cir.1985); Dept. of Transp. v. Pub. Citizen, 541 U.S. 752, 764 (2004) (quoting Vt. Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978)). Failure to do so may forfeit any right to pursue issues on judicial review. Wilson, 758 F.2d at 1373; Pub. Citizen, 541 U.S. at 764-65. II. THE CLEAN WATER ACT. The Clean Water Act establishes a comprehensive program designed to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.” 33 U.S.C. § 1251(a). Section 404(a) of the Clean Water Act authorizes the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Corps, to issue individual permits for the discharge of certain pollutants, specifically “dredged or fill material.” 33 U.S.C. § 1344(a). The Corps considers a Section 404 permit application under NEPA regulations promulgated by the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”), set forth in 40 C.F.R. Part 1500, and the Corps’ own NEPA guidelines in 33 C.F.R Part 325, App. B. The Corps also undertakes a public interest review of the application, which balances the “benefits 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 7 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 8 of 17 which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal” against the proposal’s “reasonably foreseeable detriments.” 33 C.F.R. § 320.4(a)(1). Section 404 permits must also comply with “404(b)(1) Guidelines” issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Id. § 323.6(a). III. JUDICIAL REVIEW UNDER THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT. The APA requires a reviewing court to affirm an agency decision unless it is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A). Under this standard, the scope of judicial review is narrow and deferential. See Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe, 401 U.S. 402, 416 (1971), abrogated on other grounds, Califano v. Sanders, 430 U.S. 99 (1977). A fundamental principle of judicial review pursuant to the APA is that “[t]he focal point for judicial review should be the administrative record already in existence, not some new record made initially in the reviewing court.” Camp v. Pitts, 411 U.S. 138, 142 (1973). Under this record rule, “[j]udicial review of agency action is normally restricted to the administrative record.” Citizens for Alts. to Radioactive Dumping v. U.S Dept. of Energy, 485 F.3d 1091, 1096 (10th Cir. 2007) (citation omitted). To enforce that general rule, the Tenth Circuit has instructed that a reviewing court may supplement the record with material not seen by the agency only in “extremely limited circumstances, such as where the agency ignored relevant factors it should have considered or considered factors left out of the formal record.” Lee v. U.S. Air Force, 354 F.3d 1229, 1242 (10th Cir. 2004) (internal punctuation and citation omitted); accord Citizens for Alts., 485 F.3d at 1096. Because an agency is entitled to 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 8 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 9 of 17 rely on its own experts’ analysis, those “extremely limited circumstances” do not exist when the extra-record materials demonstrate that an expert disagrees with an agency’s methods. E.g., Lee, 354 F.3d at 1243-44; Coal. of Concerned Citizens To Make Art Smart v. Fed. Transit Admin., 843 F.3d 886, 899 (10th Cir. 2016). Argument I. PETITIONERS WAIVED THEIR OPPORTUNITY TO RELY ON THE BUCHANON REPORT. A party’s obligation to present material to an administrative agency has been a principal of NEPA jurisprudence since the Supreme Court’s seminal decision in Vermont Yankee, four decades ago. For almost as long, the Tenth Circuit has instructed that a party asserting an agency should have considered particular information “had a responsibility to place such information in the record.” N.M. Env't Improvement Div. v. Thomas, 789 F.2d 825, 835 (10th Cir.1986) (“NMEID”). Petitioners abdicated their responsibility. Despite submitting extensive comments over a six year period, Petitioners never suggested that “actual demand data” undercut the agencies’ projections of water demand. Petitioners cannot now put that data before this Court because courts “will not review information that [a party] failed to include in the administrative record or present before [the agency].” 4 Id. at 83536; Holy Cross Wilderness Fund v. Madigan, 960 F.2d 1515, 1528 n.18 (10th Cir. 4 Applying this prohibition is particularly appropriate here because Petitioners are belatedly attempting to supplement the record with a report they commissioned especially for this litigation. See Gulf Coast Rod Reel & Gun Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs, 2015 WL 1883522 at *6 (S.D. Tex. Apr. 20, 2015) (courts applying the APA have long declined to consider materials created for litigation). 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 9 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 10 of 17 1992); see also Vill. of Logan v. U.S. Dep’t. of Interior, 2013 WL 12149188, at *3 (D. N.M. Apr. 26, 2013) (citing NMEID in declining to supplement record with material the plaintiff had the opportunity to put before the agency). II. EVEN ABSENT A WAIVER, PETITIONERS HAVE NOT JUSTIFIED THIS COURT DEPARTING FROM THE RULE OF RECORD REVIEW. Courts are “generally reluctant to allow parties to supplement the record with evidence not considered by the agency in reaching its challenged decision.” Colo. Wild v. Vilsack, 713 F. Supp. 2d 1235, 1239 (D. Colo. 2010). That reluctance stems from the judicial desire to avoid being tempted to second-guess the agency, San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. NRC, 751 F.2d 1287, 1325-26 (D.C. Cir. 1984), aff'd on reh'g en banc, 789 F.2d 26 (D.C. Cir. 1986); to avoid “requiring administrators to be prescient or allowing them to take advantage of post hoc rationalizations,” Colo Wild, 713 F. Supp. 2d at 1239; and to avoid being unfair to the agency. Wilson, 758 F.2d at 1372. In light of those considerations and the deference accorded administrative agencies under the APA, Petitioners are required to prove that not including the Buchanon Report in the record would “effectively frustrate[] judicial review.” Rags Over the Ark. River, Inc. v. Bureau of Land Mgmt., 2014 WL 12741064, at *1 (D. Colo. Mar. 28, 2014) (“ROAR”) (quoting Animal Def. Council v. Hodel, 840 F.2d 1432, 1437 (9th Cir. 1988), amended, 867 F.2d 1244 (9th Cir. 1989)). A. Petitioners May Not Supplement the Record with Material Disputing an Agency’s Methodology. Petitioners’ Motion must be denied because “disagreement regarding the reliability of the methodology [the agency used] is an insufficient basis for admitting extra-record 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 10 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 11 of 17 evidence....” Lee, 354 F.3d at 1243–44; see also ROAR, 2014 WL 12741064, at *1 (“[E]vidence showing that a plaintiff’s expert disagrees with an agency expert is not a basis to admit extra-record evidence.”). This is a text book case of a Petitioner seeking to introduce a competing expert report for the purpose of challenging the agencies’ expert conclusions. Rather than contending that the agencies failed to estimate demand for water from the Project, the Buchanon Report contends the agencies erred and produced demand projections that are “overstated.” 5 Report at i. Because Petitioners seek to use the Buchanon Report to challenge the agencies’ methodology, there is no basis for this Court to supplement the record and Petitioners’ Motion must be denied. Lee, 354 F.3d at 1243–44; ROAR, 2014 WL 12741064, at *2; see also Colo. Wild, 713 F. Supp. 2d at 1241 (there is no basis for a court to admit “[e]xtra-record evidence which is actually a competing expert opinion.”). B. The Buchanon Report Does Not Present the “Extremely Limited Circumstances” Necessary to Justify Consideration of Extra-Record Material. Petitioners first suggest the Buchanon Report can be reviewed pursuant to the so-called “NEPA exception,” which some courts have used to fill “gaps or inadequacies in the NEPA process.” Mot. at 5-6 (quoting Colo. Wild, 713 F.Supp. 2d at 1241). Petitioners further contend the record should be supplemented because the agencies 5 Apart from the report’s inadmissibility under the APA, it is not clear the report would be admissible in any forum. The report does not explain how Dr. Buchanon’s “linear” projections of demand were done, why they are an appropriate methodology or even how Dr. Buchanon is qualified to offer expert opinion. Cf. Fed. R. Evid. 702. 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 11 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 12 of 17 “ignored relevant factors [they] should have considered in making [their] decision[s].” Id. (quoting Custer Cty. Action Ass’n v. Garvey, 256 F.3d 1024, 1027 n. 1 (10th Cir. 2001)). Finally, Petitioners suggest the “‘agency action is not adequately explained and cannot be reviewed properly without considering the [Buchanon Report].” Id. at 6 (citations omitted). Petitioners have failed to prove that the Buchanon Report presents the extremely limited circumstances which may justify invoking any one of these exceptions. 1. The NEPA Exception does not justify admitting the Buchanon Report. Although no Tenth Circuit decision has expressly recognized it, Petitioners assert supplementing the record is warranted pursuant to the so-called “NEPA exception.” Mot. at 10. The “NEPA exception” is really no more than a case-specific application of the “relevant factor” exception Petitioners also rely on. As courts have recognized, the NEPA exception rests on the same basis as the relevant factors exception. See Gulf Coast Rod Reel, 2015 WL 1883522, at *3 (“the rationale for the ‘NEPA exception’ [is] determining whether the agency considered all of the relevant factors.”) (internal punctuation omitted); ROAR, 2014 WL 12741064, at *2 (the “NEPA exception” is “a variant of the ‘relevant factors’ test.”). And indeed, the Tenth Circuit has considered the same factors which led the Second Circuit to conceive of the NEPA exception without any indication that the court intended to create a new exception to the rule limiting judicial review to the record. Compare Lee, 354 F.3d at 1242 and Citizens for Alts., 485 F.3d at 1096 with Cty. of Suffolk v. Sec’y of the Interior, 562 F.2d 1368, 1384-85 (2nd Cir. 1977) (all stating that extra-record material may be considered when necessary for the court to consider allegations that the agency failed to mention a serious 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 12 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 13 of 17 environmental consequence or “otherwise swept stubborn problems or serious criticism under the rug.”). Because the NEPA exception is better seen as an application of the relevant factors exception, it provides no independent reason to supplement the record. Even if the “NEPA exception” did stand on its own, it could not justify supplementing the record with the Buchanon Report. First, the Tenth Circuit has been emphatic – even in NEPA cases – that supplementation is only appropriate in “extremely limited circumstances.”6 E.g., Lee, 354 F.3d at 1242; Citizens for Alts., 485 F.3d at 1096. Second, the NEPA exception may be applied only where an agency’s process is insufficient, so proffered extra-record material must “illuminate a broad section of analysis that is wholly lacking in the record.” Colo Wild, 713 F.Supp. 2d at 1241-42 (emphasis added); see also San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council v. U.S. Bureau of Land Mgmt., 2015 WL 13613523, at *5, 7 (D. Colo. Mar. 9, 2015) (acknowledging NEPA exception but declining to add documents addressing subjects already in the record); ROAR, 2014 WL 12741064, at *3 (NEPA exception cannot be used to supplement record with material purporting to show inadequate agency consideration of a subject). Petitioners assert that the Buchanon Report fills “a major analysis gap: support for the continued need of the project.” Mot. at 10. That is simply not the case. Far from being “wholly lacking,” the FEIS and the record as a whole contain extensive documentation of the need for the Firming Project to meet a portion of the participants’ 6 Similarly, the prohibition on using extra-record material to offer competing expert opinion applies just as strongly in a NEPA case as it does in any other case. See Colo. Wild, 713 F. Supp. 2d at 1241 (citing Lee, 354 F.3d at 1242). 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 13 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 14 of 17 water needs. E.g. BOR0004489-4555. Moreover, the Buchanon Report could not fill any purported “gap” in the record because it only makes long term projections for about half of the Project participants. Report at 7-36. Consequently, Petitioners cannot rely on the NEPA exception to justify supplementing the record with the Buchanon Report. 2. The Buchanon Report does not demonstrate that a “relevant factor” has been ignored. Presumably because it is readily apparent the agencies did address demand for water from the Project and thus that the Report is not evidence that the agencies missed a relevant factor, Petitioners ask this Court to expand the “relevant factor” exception endorsed by the Tenth Circuit in Lee, into a “relevant facts” exception. Mot. at 12. Petitioners’ argument cannot succeed because “factor” must be construed as synonymous with “topic;” to construe the term more broadly would eviscerate the Tenth Circuit’s command that exceptions to the record rule are appropriate only in “extremely limited circumstances.” Lee, 354 F.3d at 1242. Indeed, Lee illustrates that the Tenth Circuit adheres to this narrow construction of “factor.” There the appellants sought to supplement the administrative record with the affidavit of a professional real estate appraiser, which contended the Air Force’s program would lead to decreased land values. The Tenth Circuit found there were no “gaps or inadequacies” that would justify admitting the material because the Air Force had already addressed the potential for change in land values. Id.; see also San Luis Valley, 2015 WL 13613523, at *6 (documents were not evidence an agency had ignored a relevant factor because the documents addressed a subject already addressed in the record); Friends of the Earth v. Hintz, 800 F.2d 822, 829 (9th Cir. 1986) (quashing 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 14 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 15 of 17 depositions where the record addressed the subject matter). Likewise, here, where the agencies did address the need for water from the Project, there is no gap in the record. 3. The Buchanon Report is not necessary for this Court’s review. Petitioners contend the Buchanon Report is necessary for this Court’s review because it provides “a more complete picture” of the need for the Firming Project. Mot. at 13. Petitioners’ own argument proves the report is not necessary. As courts have repeatedly recognized, material that helps present a more complete picture of an issue already addressed in the record is not necessary for judicial review. See e.g., ROAR, 2014 WL 12741064, at * 1 (supplementation is not allowed “merely to bolster the record or supply background information’) (quoting Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. Jewell, 2014 WL 116408 at *1 (D. Ariz. Jan. 13, 2014)); Vill. of Logan, 2013 WL 12149188 at * 3 (document not necessary for judicial review where agency had addressed subject matter). Because there is an abundance of evidence on the subject of water demand in the record, the Buchanon Report cannot be necessary for effective review. Conclusion Petitioners should not be allowed to rely on an expert document they deprived the agencies of the ability to address. Even if that were not the case, their Motion must be denied because the Buchanon Report is no more than dueling expert opinion. Finally, Petitioners’ Motion must be denied because Petitioners have failed to demonstrate this is one of the “extremely limited circumstances” appropriate for supplementing the record. At bottom, the question before this Court is: does the absence of the Buchanon Report “effectively frustrate[] judicial review.” E.g., ROAR, 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 15 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 16 of 17 2014 WL 12741064 at * 1. Given the abundance of material in the record addressing demand for water from the Project, the answer to that question can only be no. Respectfully submitted this 24th day of May, 2018. JEFFREY H. WOOD Acting Assistant Attorney General Environment and Natural Resources Division /s/ David W. Gehlert DAVID W. GEHLERT Colorado Bar No. 21852 U.S. Dept. of Justice, ENRD Natural Resources Section 999 18th Street South Terrace, Suite 370 Denver, CO 80202 Tel.: (303) 844-1386 E-mail: David.Gehlert@usdoj.gov DANIEL DERTKE Senior Attorney U.S. Dept. of Justice, ENRD Environmental Defense Section 601 D. St. NW Washington, D.C. 20004 Tel.: (202) 514-0994 E-mail: Daniel.Dertke@usdoj.gov Attorneys for Respondents 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 16 Case 1:17-cv-02563-REB Document 38 Filed 05/24/18 USDC Colorado Page 17 of 17 Certificate of Service I hereby certify that on this 24th day of May 2018, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of Court via the CM/ECF system, which will provide notice of this filing by email to all counsel record. /s/ David W. Gehlert David W. Gehlert Attorney for Respondents 17-cv-2563-REB: Response to Motion to Supplement the Administrative Records – Page 17