Cite as 386 F.3d 1169 (9th Cir. 2004)
the second case, the substantive statute is enforced through Section 10(a) of the APA.
In Data Processing, 397 U.S. at 153, 90 S.Ct. 827, the Supreme Court construed Section 10(a) to grant standing to all those “arguably within the zone of interests” protected by the substantive statute whose duties the plaintiff was seeking to enforce. Under the reading of “arguably within” provided by Data Processing, courts grant standing fairly generously under the APA. As the Supreme Court wrote in Clarke v. Securities Industry Association, 479 U.S. 388, 399, 107 S.Ct. 750, 93 L.Ed.2d 757 (1987), the “zone of interests” test is “not meant to be especially demanding,” and a court should deny standing only “if the plaintiffs interests are so marginally related to or inconsistent with the purposes implicit in the statute that it cannot reasonably be assumed that Congress intended to permit the suit.” See Sausalito, 386 F.3d at 1200, 2004 WL 2348385 (citation omitted); Ocean Advocates v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs, 361 F.3d 1108, 1120–21 (9th Cir.2004).
2. The ESA
The ESA contains an explicit provision granting standing to enforce the duties created by the statute. The ESA’s citizen-suit provision states that “any person” may “commence a civil suit on his own behalf … to enjoin any person, including the United States and any other governmental instrumentality or agency … who is alleged to be in violation of any provision of this chapter or regulation….” 16 U.S.C. § 1540(g)(1)(A). The ESA contains an explicit definition of the “person” who is authorized to enforce the statute:
The term “person” means an individual, corporation, partnership, trust, association, or an other private entity; or any officer, employee, agent, department, or instrumentality of the Federal Government, or any State, municipality, or political subdivision of a State, or of any foreign government; any State, municipality, or political subdivision of a State; or any other entity subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
Id. § 1532(13).
The ESA also contains separate definitions of “species,” “endangered species,” “threatened species,” and “fish and wildlife.” A “species” is defined as follows:
The term “species” includes any subspecies of fish or wildlife or plants, and any distinct population segment of any species of vertebrate fish or wildlife which interbreeds when mature.
Id. § 1532(16). “Fish or wildlife” are defined as follows:
The term “fish or wildlife” means any member of the animal kingdom, including without limitation any mammal, fish, bird … amphibian, reptile, mollusk, crustacean, arthropod or other invertebrate….
Id. § 1532(8). An “endangered species” is defined as follows:
The term “endangered species” means any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range other than [certain dangerous species of insects].
Id. § 1532(6). Finally, a “threatened species” is defined as follows:
The term “threatened species”: means any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
Id. § 1532(20).
It is obvious both from the scheme of the statute, as well as from the statute’s explicit definitions of its terms, that animals are the protected rather than the
