The Arbitrary and Capricious Standard Under the APA

THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze, interpret and apply the arbitrary and capricious standard under the Administrative Procedure Act. * * * Under the APA, courts shall "hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings, and conclusions found to be ... arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law." 5 U.S.C. 706(2)(A). "The scope of review under the 'arbitrary and capricious' standard is narrow and a court is not to substitute its judgment for that of the agency." Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass'n of U.S., Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29, 43, 103 S.Ct. 2856, 77 L.Ed.2d 443 (1983). Nevertheless, the agency must "examine the relevant data and articulate a satisfactory explanation for its action." Turtle Island Restoration Network v. U.S. Dep't of Commerce, 878 F.3d 725, 732 (9th Cir. 2017) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). We will strike down an agency action as arbitrary and capricious "if the agency has relied on factors which Congress has not intended it to consider, entirely failed to consider an important aspect of the problem, offered an explanation for its decision that runs counter to the evidence before the agency, or if the agency's decision is so implausible that it could not be ascribed to a difference in view or the product of agency expertise." Id. at 732-33 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. US Forest Service, 899 F. 3d 970 (9th Cir. 2018)