## Facts

- The Department of Commerce, acting through NOAA, designated the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA) and issued implementing regulations.
- The sanctuary covers a large area of coastal and ocean waters off California and contains significant wildlife and habitat, including protected marine mammals and other sensitive resources.
- NOAA’s regulations defined “motorized personal watercraft” to include jet skis and similar small, high-speed craft.
- The regulations restricted personal watercraft operation to limited designated zones and effectively prohibited their use in most of the sanctuary, while allowing broader operation of other vessels.
- The Personal Watercraft Industry Association and individual plaintiffs challenged the personal-watercraft-specific restriction in federal district court under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
- The district court upheld most sanctuary regulations but set aside the personal watercraft restriction as arbitrary for singling out personal watercraft without comparably restricting other vessels.
- Both sides appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether NOAA’s decision to impose stricter limits on motorized personal watercraft than on other vessels in the sanctuary was arbitrary and capricious under the APA.
2. Whether the MPRSA authorized NOAA to adopt a personal-watercraft-specific restriction as part of sanctuary management.

## Decision

- The D.C. Circuit reversed the district court’s invalidation of the personal watercraft restriction.
- The court held NOAA’s personal watercraft regulation was not arbitrary and capricious.
- The court held NOAA acted within its delegated authority under the MPRSA.
- The personal-watercraft-specific restriction was reinstated.

## Legal Principles

- Under APA arbitrary-and-capricious review, a court upholds agency action if the agency offers a rational explanation grounded in the administrative record and consistent with its statutory mission; courts do not substitute their policy judgment for the agency’s.
- An agency may regulate incrementally and is not required to address all similar sources of harm at the same time; disparate treatment is permissible if reasonably explained.
- Record-supported distinctions in a regulated activity’s operational characteristics can justify category-specific restrictions.
- The MPRSA grants the responsible agency broad discretion to issue “necessary and reasonable” regulations to protect a national marine sanctuary’s resources and uses.

## Conclusion

The D.C. Circuit upheld NOAA’s targeted limits on motorized personal watercraft in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, concluding the agency reasonably distinguished personal watercraft based on their characteristics and potential impacts and acted within its statutory authority.


Personal Watercraft Indus. Ass’n v. Dep’t of Com., 48 F.3d 540 (D.C. Cir. 1995)