Law Commons^™

Resurfacing Sovereignty: Who Regulates Surface Mining In Indian Country After Mcgirt?, Robin M. Rotman, Sam J. Carter

Faculty Publications

This article examines disputes over surface mining jurisdiction on the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation post-McGirt and the larger implications for sovereignty and environmental justice in Indian Country that follow. Part II summarizes the history of federal, state, and tribal relations and provides an analysis of the McGirt decision and its potential impacts on natural resource issues. Part III offers an examination of jurisdictional uncertainties post-McGirt through an in-depth discussion of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act and the State of Oklahoma v. United States Department of the Interior case. Drawing from the examination of surface mining regulation, Part IV …

It's None Of Your Business: State Regulation Of Tribal Business Undermines Sovereignty And Justice, Robin M. Rotman, Sam J. Carter

Faculty Publications

The U.S. Constitution grants the federal government plenary power over American Indian affairs, yet states are increasingly attempting to assert regulatory and tax jurisdiction over tribal businesses. This overreach threatens tribal sovereignty and contravenes the terms of treaties entered between the United States and American Indian tribes. This Article begins by examining the legal foundations of federal, state, and tribal relations. It then examines recent cases across four business sectors - gaming, tobacco sales, petroleum sales, and online lending - in order to illustrate the pervasive jurisdictional challenges faced by courts in cases involving tribal businesses. This Article offers three …

White Tape And Indian Wards: Removing The Federal Bureaucracy To Empower Tribal Economies And Self-Government, Adam Crepelle

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

American Indians have the highest poverty rate in the United States, and dire poverty ensnares many reservations. With no private sector and abysmal infrastructure, reservations are frequently likened to third-world countries. Present-day Indian poverty is a direct consequence of present-day federal Indian law and policy. Two-hundred-year-old laws premised on Indian incompetency remain a part of the U.S. legal system; accordingly, Indian country is bound by heaps of federal regulations that apply nowhere else in the United States. The federal regulatory structure impedes tribal economic development and prevents tribes from controlling their own resources.

This Article asserts the federal regulatory “white …

Hoopa Valley Tribe V. Ferc, Fredrick Aaron Rains

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Hoopa Valley Tribe v. FERC, the Hoopa Valley Tribe challenged the intentional and continual delay of state water quality certification review of water discharged from a series of dams on the Klamath River in California and Oregon. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the states of Oregon and California, and PacifiCorp, a hydroelectric operator, were implementing an administrative scheme designed to circumvent a one-year temporal requirement for review imposed on states by the Clean Water Act. This scheme allowed PacifiCorp to operate the series of dams for over a decade without proper state water quality certification. The United States …

Slides: The Columbia River Basin, Barbara Cosens

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Barbara Cosens, Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty, University of Idaho College of Law, Waters of the West Interdisciplinary Program

16 slides

Slides: The São Francisco Water Basin - Brazil, Vanessa Empinotti

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Vanessa Empinotti, Federal University of ABC – UFABC, Brazil

20 slides

Measures With Multiple Purposes: Puzzles From Ec-Seal Products, Donald H. Regan

Articles

European Communities—Measures Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Seal Products is the first case in which the dispute system of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has wrestled with a regulation that pursued multiple conflicting, legitimate purposes. (I will explain later why Brazil—Retreaded Tyres is not such a case.) This generates puzzles about applying the definition of a “technical regulation” to complex measures; about whether an exception to a ban can be justified by a purpose different from that of the ban; and about how to apply “less restrictive alternative” analysis to measures with multiple goals. The first of these puzzles …

Slides: Perspectives On Water Management In Arizona, Kathy Jacobs

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Kathy Jacobs, Director, Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions (CCASS), Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona

25 slides

Slides: Thoughts On Regulatory Mechanisms For Natural Resource Development: Alternatives To Command And Control, Including A Look At Open Source Approaches, Stanley Dempsey

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: Stanley Dempsey, Chairman, Royal Gold

17 slides

Protecting Intangible Cultural Resources: Alternatives To Intellectual Property Law, Gerald Carr

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Cultural resources can be defined as "the tangible and intangible effects of an individual or group of people that define their existence, and place them temporally and geographically in relation to their belief systems and their familial and political groups, providing meaning to their lives." The field of cultural resources includes tangible items, such as land, sacred sites, and religious and finerary objects. The field also includes intangible knowledge and customs, such as tribal names, symbols, stories, and ecological, ethnopharmacological, religious, or other traditional knowledge. The tangible cultural resources of tribes can fall under the protection of statutes such as …

Agenda: Opportunities And Obstacles To Reducing The Environmental Footprint Of Natural Gas Development In The Uintah Basin, Utah State University. Bingham Entrepreneurship And Energy Research Center, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center. Intermountain Oil And Gas Bmp Project, Houston Advanced Research Center. Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program

Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development in Uintah Basin (October 14)

A public workshop to discuss “Opportunities and Constraints to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development” was held in Vernal, Utah on October 14, 2010 at the Vernal campus of Utah State University. The workshop was sponsored by Utah State University, The Bingham Energy Research Center; The University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center; and the Houston Advanced Research Center, Environmentally Friendly Drilling Program.

The meeting included presentations and panel discussions on:

• Trends and environmental issues related to natural gas development
• Examples of environmental innovations being used in the Uintah Basin
• Examples of innovation & tools from outside the …

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

A Tale Of Conflicting Sovereignties: The Case Against Tribal Sovereign Immunity And Federal Preemption Doctrines Preventing States' Enforcement Of Campaign Contribution Regulations On Indian Tribes, Paul Porter

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note will discuss whether Indian tribes can assert tribal sovereign immunity to avoid compliance with state campaign finance regulation and whether such regulations should be preempted by federal law. Tribal sovereign immunity is not an enshrined constitutional imperative; it exists only under federal common law and can be limited by the courts from blocking state suits to enforce campaign finance regulations against tribes. This Note will also argue that state campaign finance regulations should not be preempted by federal law because states have a compelling interest in protecting their political processes from corruption that outweighs tribal interests in flouting …

The Tribal Sovereign As Citizen: Protecting Indian Country Health And Welfare Through Federal Environmental Citizen Suits, James M. Grijalva

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Article suggests that federal environmental citizen suits can serve tribal sovereignty interests without presenting the legal risks tribes face when they attempt direct regulation of non-Indians. Section I briefly describes governmental regulatory roles tribes may play in the implementation of federal environmental law and policy. Section II overviews the conceptual and procedural framework for tribal claims as "citizens." Section III argues that in bringing environmental citizen suits, tribal governments exercise their inherent sovereign power and responsibility to protect the health and welfare of tribal citizens and the quality of the Indian country environment. Section IV concludes that, while suits …

Az Water Rights Settlement Act Of 2004, United States 108th Congress

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

Federal Legislation: Central AZ Project Settlement of 2004 - (Sec. 103) Parties: Tohono O'Odham Tribe & US Sets forth general permissible uses of the Central AZ Project (CAP), including for domestic, municipal, fish and wildlife, and industrial purposes. The DOI Secretary will reallocate 197,500 acre-feet of agricultural priority water made available pursuant to the AZ Water Settlement for use by AZ Indian tribes, of which: (1) 102,000 acre-feet shall be reallocated to the Gila River Indian Community; (2) 28,200 acre-feet shall be reallocated to the Tohono O'odham Nation (formerly the Papago Tribe); and (3) 67,300 acre-feet shall be reallocated to …

Recent Developments: Environmental Law, Taxation Of Natural Resources, Water Rights Cases, Kevin K. Washburn

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sustainability: Myth And Reality, Kai Lee

Sustainable Use of the West's Water (Summer Conference, June 12-14)

23 pages (includes illustrations).

Contains references.

Agenda: Innovation In Western Water Law And Management, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Innovation in Western Water Law and Management (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors Lawrence J. MacDonnell, David H. Getches, Charles F. Wilkinson and Richard B. Collins.

Pressures of population, drought, and changing water use have provided the impetus for numerous innovations in water law and management in recent years. The Center's annual conference June 5-7, 1991, will look at innovation and change in five areas--water planning, special water management areas, negotiated settlements of tribal water rights, conjunctive use of ground and surface water, and public values in water decision making. Each session will begin with talks by experts from several western …

Northern Cheyenne Tribe Water Rights Compact, Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Mt

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

Settlement Agreement and State Legislation: Water Rights Compact State among Montana, Northern Cheyenne Tribe and US. MCA 85-20-301 (1991). The statute ratifies Compact between Northern Cheyenne, MT and US. This Compact resolves all water claims by the Northern Cheyenne within MT so long as the Tongue River Reservoir is repaired and expanded. Pre-existing stock water, domestic and municipal water uses are recognized. Tribe has right to 32,500 a/f/y of direct flow and storage from the Tongue River Basin (and first rights to excess) with a priority date of Oct. 1, 1881 provided that actual depletion does not exceed 9,375 a/f/y. …

Fort Mcdowell Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Of 1990 Act, 104th Congress

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

Federal Legislation: Fort McDowell Indian Community Water Rights Settlement of 1990 Act, Title IV of the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act of 1990 (Jan. 15, 1990) (PL 101-628, 104 Stat. 4469, 4480) Parties: Fort McDowell Indian Community, AZ, US, Salt River Valley Water Users Association, Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, Roosevelt Water Conservation District, Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Gilbert, & Central Arizona Water Conservation District. Act resolves Tribe's water rights in General Adjudication of the Gila River System and Source. Neighboring non-Indian communities will transfer rights to 12,000 a/f of surface water and provide means for …

Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Agreement Of 1988, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Et Al

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

Settlement Agreement: Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Agreement of 1988. Parties: US, AZ, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, Salt River Water Users Association, Roosevelt Water Conservation District, Roosevelt Irrigation, Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Gilbert,Central AZ Water Conservation District. Contains stipulations, sources of water, expected groundwater recharge, Kent water, Bartlett Dam water, spill water, contracts with cities such as Phoenix, limitations on use, CAP water leasing and multiple exhibits.Exhibits 2.17-3.d of SRPMIC Settlement includes a "Map of SRPMIC Reservation" and several cases: Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community v. …

Livestock Grazing On Public Lands: Procedures And Issues, E. T. Bartlett

The Public Lands During the Remainder of the 20th Century: Planning, Law, and Policy in the Federal Land Agencies (Summer Conference, June 8-10)

17 pages.

Contains references.

Federal Power Over Indians: Its Sources, Scope, And Limitations, Nell Jessup Newton

Journal Articles

Judicial deference to federal legislation affecting Indians is a theme that has persisted throughout the two-hundred-year history of American Indian law. The Supreme Court has sustained nearly every piece of federal legislation it has considered directly regulating Indian tribes, whether challenged as being beyond federal power or within that power but violating individual rights.' This judicial deference often has been justified by invoking federal plenary power to regulate Indian affairs and the political question doctrine's requirement of deference to the political branches. Indeed, not until 1977 did the Court explicitly repudiate use of the political question doctrine to bar equal …

The San Luis Valley Groundwater Dispute, David Harrison, Jeris Danielson

Groundwater: Allocation, Development and Pollution (Summer Conference, June 6-9)

25 pages (includes illustrations and map).

Changing The Law On Personal Status Within A Liberal Interpretation Of The Sharia, Mohammed Al-Nowaihi

Faculty Book Chapters

Many minds, multiple energies and much cooperation has gone into the creation and production of this monograph. Principally it is the outcome of a seminar on the theme of "Law and Social Change: Problems and Challenges" which was organized and co-sponsored within the general framework of the Open University Seminar Series by the Department of Sociology-Anthropology-Psychology of the American University in Cairo and the National Center for Sociological and Criminological Research. The Open University Seminar, held annually, is a forum through which members of the AUC community and interested persons from the larger Egyptian community can come together to express …