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Articles 1 - 30 of 38
Full-Text Articles in Law
Preview—Atlantic Richfield Company V. Christian: The Intersection Of Superfund And State-Law Restoration Claims, Emily M. Mcculloch
Preview—Atlantic Richfield Company V. Christian: The Intersection Of Superfund And State-Law Restoration Claims, Emily M. Mcculloch
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments in this matter on Tuesday, December 3, 2019, at 11:00 a.m. in the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. Lisa S. Blatt will likely appear for the Petitioner. Joseph R. Palmore will likely appear for the Respondents. Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco will likely argue on behalf of the United States.
Virginia Uranium, Inc. V. Warren, Nyles G. Greer
Virginia Uranium, Inc. V. Warren, Nyles G. Greer
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled that the Atomic Energy Act did not preempt a Virginia law prohibiting uranium mining in the Commonwealth. The Court held that although the Act delegated substantial power over the nuclear life cycle to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it offered no indication that Congress sought to strip states of their traditional power to regulate mining on private lands within their borders.
Preview—County Of Maui, Hawaii V. Hawaii Wildlife Fund: Clean Water Act Regulation Of Point Source Pollution Conveyed Through Groundwater, Connlan W. Whyte
Preview—County Of Maui, Hawaii V. Hawaii Wildlife Fund: Clean Water Act Regulation Of Point Source Pollution Conveyed Through Groundwater, Connlan W. Whyte
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments in this matter on Wednesday, November 6, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. Elbert Lin will likely appear for the Petitioner. David Lane Henkin will likely appear for the Respondents. Solicitor General, Noel J. Francisco, will argue on behalf of the United States.
Wildearth Guardians V. Zinke, Emily M. Mcculloch
Wildearth Guardians V. Zinke, Emily M. Mcculloch
Public Land & Resources Law Review
WildEarth Guardians v. Zinke marks an important decision prompting the Bureau of Land Management to seriously consider greenhouse gas emissions when performing environmental assessments for oil and gas leasing. WildEarth Guardians and Physicians for Social Responsibility, two non-profit organizations, asserted BLM improperly failed to recognize greenhouse gas emissions and their impacts on climate change when issuing oil and gas leases in three western states. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia agreed, finding that by failing to take a hard look at environmental impacts from its leasing decisions, BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act’s requirements.
Citizens For Clean Energy V. United States Department Of The Interior, Anthony Reed
Citizens For Clean Energy V. United States Department Of The Interior, Anthony Reed
Public Land & Resources Law Review
In 2017, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke issued a new order lifting the previous administration’s 2016 Jewell Order that had placed a moratorium on mineral leases until a programmatic EIS was completed. The new order repealed the moratorium, cancelled the programmatic EIS, and instructed the BLM to expedite new mineral lease applications. Several plaintiffs challenged Zinke’s order, and the United States District Court for the District of Montana ruled that it was a major federal action that triggered NEPA analysis and that the agency acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it issued the order without any environmental review.
Preview—Murray V. Bej Minerals, Llc: Finding A Home For Fossils, Layne L. Ryerson
Preview—Murray V. Bej Minerals, Llc: Finding A Home For Fossils, Layne L. Ryerson
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The Montana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this matter on Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 9:30 AM in the courtroom of the Montana Supreme Court, Joseph P. Mazurek Building, Helena, Montana. The Honorable Olivia Rieger will hear the case in place of Justice Jim Rice, who recused himself. Eric B. Wolff is expected to argue for the Appellants. Harlan B. Krogh is expected to argue for the Appellees.
American Legion V. American Humanist Association, Seth T. Bonilla
American Legion V. American Humanist Association, Seth T. Bonilla
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The separation of church and state is a key element of American democracy, but its interpretation has been challenged as the country grows more diverse. In American Legion v. American Humanist Association, the Supreme Court adopted a new standard to analyze whether a religious symbol on public land maintained by public funding violated the Constitution’s Establishment Clause.
Herrera V. Wyoming, Dylan M. Jaicks
Herrera V. Wyoming, Dylan M. Jaicks
Public Land & Resources Law Review
Stemming from the conviction of a Crow tribal member for illegal hunting, Herrera v. Wyoming reignited long-running questions concerning treaty abrogation and precedent. In an effort to clarify conflicting case law, the Supreme Court upheld the Crow Tribe’s reserved hunting rights and rejected the argument that statehood extinguished such rights.
Knick V. Township Of Scott, Alizabeth A. Bronsdon
Knick V. Township Of Scott, Alizabeth A. Bronsdon
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The Supreme Court overruled a 34-year-old precedent and sparked a sharp dissent by holding that a landowner impacted by a local ordinance requiring public access to an unofficial cemetery on her property could bring a takings claim directly in federal court. The decision eliminated a Catch-22 state-litigation requirement that effectively barred local takings plaintiffs from federal court, but raised concerns about government land use and regulation, judicial federalism, and the role of stare decisis.
League Of Conservation Voters V. Trump, Adam W. Johnson Mr.
League Of Conservation Voters V. Trump, Adam W. Johnson Mr.
Public Land & Resources Law Review
A consortium of environmental groups brought suit challenging an executive order opening millions of acres of continental shelf lands to oil and gas leasing. The Court held that the President’s actions exceeded his statutory authority and intruded on Congress’s power under the Property Clause, violating the separation of powers doctrine.
Sturgeon V. Frost, Layne L. Ryerson
Sturgeon V. Frost, Layne L. Ryerson
Public Land & Resources Law Review
After two trips to the United States Supreme Court, an Alaskan moose hunter secured motorized access to his hunting ground while establishing Alaska as the exception, rather than the rule, regarding federal land management. In a much-anticipated holding, the Court determined that the surface waters of the Nation River within the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve qualify as “private” land and therefore fall beyond the control of the National Park Service. The decision stripped the Park Service of normal regulatory authority over navigable waters within Alaska’s national parks, prompting a concurrence urging Congress to clarify resulting ambiguities.
Book Review Of "River Of Lost Souls", Clifford J. Villa
Book Review Of "River Of Lost Souls", Clifford J. Villa
Public Land & Resources Law Review
No abstract provided.
Juliana V. United States, Daniel Brister
Juliana V. United States, Daniel Brister
Public Land & Resources Law Review
In 2015, a group of adolescents between the ages of eight and nineteen filed a lawsuit against the federal government for infringing upon their civil rights to a healthy, habitable future living environment. Those Plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States alleged that the industrial-scale burning of fossil fuels was causing catastrophic and destabilizing impacts to the global climate, threatening the survival and welfare of present and future generations. Seeking to reduce the United States’ contributions to atmospheric carbon dioxide, Plaintiffs demanded injunctive and declaratory relief to halt the federal government’s policies of promoting and subsidizing fossil fuels, due to the …
Appalachian Voices V. State Water Control Board, Thomas C. Mooney-Myers
Appalachian Voices V. State Water Control Board, Thomas C. Mooney-Myers
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The Virginia State Water Control Board certified the issuance of permits for the construction of a natural gas pipeline that traversed over 300 miles of Virginia in addition to other states. Local environmental groups and individuals petitioned the Fourth Circuit to review the certification under the Administrative Procedure Act. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals gave deference to the agency’s actions and denied the petition for review.
Indigenous Environmental Network V. United States Department Of State, Seth Sivinski
Indigenous Environmental Network V. United States Department Of State, Seth Sivinski
Public Land & Resources Law Review
Pipelines are an extremely efficient way to move large amounts of oil and gas across long distances. However, pipelines have become a lightning rod for environmentalists opposing the lines’ construction and the energy sector which considers the lines a must to achieve energy independence and security. Pipelines are massive projects often crossing interstate and international boundaries. As a result, they are subject to an extensive amount of government regulation with an accompanying assortment of legal challenges. Indigenous Environmental Network v. United States Department of State is the latest case in the Keystone XL pipeline saga, wherein the United States District …
Kloker V. Fort Peck Tribes, Hallee Kansman
Kloker V. Fort Peck Tribes, Hallee Kansman
Public Land & Resources Law Review
Kloker v. Fort Peck Tribes investigates and deciphers the application of the Indian canons of construction to the congressional formation and establishment of the Fort Peck reservation in Montana. In general, courts interpret congressional acts creating reservations through the lens of the tribal-federal government trust relationship. Although this case examines different substantive models of legal interpretation and theories of water law, the ultimate dispute is textual in nature—questioning the plain language of the establishment legislation itself.
Maralex Resources, Inc. V. Barnhardt, Bradley E. Tinker
Maralex Resources, Inc. V. Barnhardt, Bradley E. Tinker
Public Land & Resources Law Review
In Maralex Resources v. Barnhardt, Maralex and property owners brought an action to protect private property from BLM inspections of oil and gas lease sites. The Tenth Circuit looked at the plain meaning of a congressional statute and held in favor of Maralex, finding that BLM lacked authority to require a private landowner to provide BLM with a key to inspect wells of their property. The Tenth Circuit held BLM has the authority to conduct inspections without prior notice on private property lease sites; however, it is required to contact the property owner for permission before entering the property.
Hoopa Valley Tribe V. Ferc, Fredrick Aaron Rains
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 …
Murray V. Bej Minerals, Llc, Brett Berntsen
Murray V. Bej Minerals, Llc, Brett Berntsen
Public Land & Resources Law Review
Part of a dispute some 66 million years in the making, Murray v. BEJ Minerals, LLC considered for the first time whether dinosaur fossils—specifically a one-of-a-kind specimen containing entombed “dueling dinosaurs”—qualified as “minerals” for the purposes of a property transaction under Montana law. Finding no consistent statutory or dictionary definition for “mineral,” the Ninth Circuit relied on a test previously utilized by the Montana Supreme Court to hold that the dinosaur fossils constituted minerals due to their rare and exceptional qualities and were therefore part of the property’s mineral estate. The decision was promptly nullified, however, as the Ninth Circuit …
Save Our Sound Obx, Inc. V. North Carolina Department Of Transportation, Mitch L. Werbell V
Save Our Sound Obx, Inc. V. North Carolina Department Of Transportation, Mitch L. Werbell V
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of several governmental agencies seeking to construct a new bridge in the Pamlico Sound adjacent to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. For years, state and federal agencies have put forth a massive coordinated effort to address the constant weather damage and erosion which occurs to a section of North Carolina Highway 12. The court found the agencies properly cleared NEPA’s environmental review requirements for the bridge’s construction. Additionally, the opponent-litigants’ efforts to add claims challenging the project, based on new information about a shipwreck in the bridge’s path, were futile.
Wildearth Guardians V. United States Bureau Of Land Management, Seth Sivinski
Wildearth Guardians V. United States Bureau Of Land Management, Seth Sivinski
Public Land & Resources Law Review
In WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. BLM, the District Court of Colorado showed that economic and developmental uncertainty is an area where agencies are given broad discretion in deciding whether an impact is reasonably foreseeable and requires a further conformity analysis under the Clean Air Act. This case exemplifies the tactical limitation of using climate change and the science around it to force greater analysis of projects undertaken by federal agencies. However, the court presented a potential roadmap for successful future challenges.
Solenex Llc V. Jewell, F. Aaron Rains
Solenex Llc V. Jewell, F. Aaron Rains
Public Land & Resources Law Review
In Solenex LLC v. Jewell, the Secretary of the Interior cancelled a highly contentious oil and gas lease in Montana’s Badger-Two Medicine area, an environmentally sensitive and culturally significant area to the Blackfeet Tribe, nearly thirty years after the lease had been issued. Solenex, a Louisiana based oil and gas company and holder of the lease, brought this action to enjoin the cancellation. The District Court for the District of Columbia agreed with Solenex and found that the Secretary’s decision took an unreasonable amount of time and violated good-faith contractual obligations. On these grounds, the court found the Secretary’s …
Sierra Club V. Virginia Electric & Power Company, Thomas C. Mooney-Myers
Sierra Club V. Virginia Electric & Power Company, Thomas C. Mooney-Myers
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The Sierra Club alleged Dominion violated the Clean Water Act by allowing arsenic to leak from coal ash storage pits into state waters. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found for the polluter, using a narrow definition of point source. Additionally, the Fourth Circuit deferred to agency interpretation of the polluter’s permit to find no violation occurred.
Massachusetts Lobstermen’S Association V. Ross, Daniel Brister
Massachusetts Lobstermen’S Association V. Ross, Daniel Brister
Public Land & Resources Law Review
President Obama established the first––and only––national monument in the Atlantic Ocean on September 15, 2016. Located 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and comprised of 4,913 square miles of marine ecosystems rich in biodiversity, the protected area includes four underwater mountains and three submarine canyons. Plaintiff commercial lobster and fishing associations, seeking to overturn the designation, asserted that the Antiquities Act does not permit a president to establish marine national monuments. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia disagreed, upholding a president’s authority to protect offshore areas and vast ecosystems as objects of scientific interest, and dismissing …
Brief Of Amici Curiae Indian Law Professors In Support Of Petitioner, Monte Mills
Brief Of Amici Curiae Indian Law Professors In Support Of Petitioner, Monte Mills
Public Land & Resources Law Review
No abstract provided.
Enough Is Enough : Ten Years Of Carcieri V . Salazar, Bethany C. Sullivan, Jennifer L. Turner
Enough Is Enough : Ten Years Of Carcieri V . Salazar, Bethany C. Sullivan, Jennifer L. Turner
Public Land & Resources Law Review
Ten years ago, the United States Supreme Court issued its watershed decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, landing a gut punch to Indian country. Through that decision, the Supreme Court upended decades of Department of the Interior regulations, policy, and practice related to the eligibility of all federally recognized tribes for the restoration of tribal homelands through the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934. The Court held that tribes must demonstrate that they were “under federal jurisdiction” in 1934 to qualify for land into trust under the first definition of “Indian” in the IRA. Carcieri has impacted all tribes by upending …