ELR Citation: 44 ELR 20242
No(s). 13-5147 (D.C. Cir. Nov 7, 2014)

The D.C. Circuit held that Alaska's lawsuit challenging the U.S. Forest Service's roadless rule is not time barred. The Forest Service issued the roadless rule in 2001. In 2005, the Forest Service repealed it, but the rule was reinstated by court order in 2006. In 2011, Alaska filed its lawsuit, which is governed by a six-year statute of limitations. The Forest Service argued that Alaska's suit is time barred because Alaska’s right of action accrued in 2001 when the roadless rule was issued. But a new right of action necessarily accrued upon the rule’s reinstatement in 2006. In essence, when the district court issued its 2006 order, a new rule identical to the old repealed rule was issued. It does not matter whether the 2006 rule was issued by the agency acting on its own or as a result of a court order. Either way, when the rule was reinstated in 2006 after its repeal in 2005, a new right of action accrued. Alaska's lawsuit, therefore, is timely.