Environmental Law Commons^™

My Glory Days: How I Came To Be In The Right Place At The Right Time., Mae Nan Ellingson

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Writing And Ratification Of The 1972 Montana Constitution, Bob Campbell

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Alice Creek, Dolores Colburg

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Montana (1959 – 1989) Political Evolution — Political Revolution, Ted Schwinden

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Author Biographies

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Plrlr Editors And Staff

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pakootas V. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd., Connlan W. Whyte

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Throughout the twentieth century, Teck Cominco Metals leaked metal pollutants into the Upper Columbia River that ultimately entered the United States and the Colville Indian Reservation. In 2004, after almost a decade of working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Colville Tribes initiated a citizen suit under CERCLA against Teck for damaging the ecosystem of the Upper Columbia River. In 2018, the Ninth Circuit affirmed judgment against Teck for recovery costs and attorney’s fees.

Fmc Corp. V. Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, Seth T. Bonilla

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In 1998, FMC Corporation agreed to submit to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes’ permitting processes, including the payment of fees, for clean-up work required as part of consent decree negotiations with the Environmental Protection Agency. Then, in 2002, FMC refused to pay the Tribes under a permitting agreement entered into by both parties, even though the company continued to store hazardous waste on land within the Shoshone-Bannock Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho. FMC challenged the Tribes’ authority to enforce the $1.5 million permitting fees first in tribal court and later challenged the Tribes’ authority to exercise civil regulatory and adjudicatory jurisdiction over …

Preview—Asarco Llc V. Atlantic Richfield Company: Allocation Of Remediation Costs Under Cercla, Nyles G. Greer

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals originally scheduled oral arguments in this matter for Tuesday, March 31, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. in the William K. Nakamura Courthouse in Seattle, Washington. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ninth Circuit has postponed oral arguments in this matter. While still subject to change due to the pandemic, the court has rescheduled oral arguments for April 27, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 2 of the William K. Nakamura Courthouse in Seattle, Washington. Shannon Wells Stevenson will likely appear on behalf of the Appellant. Gregory Evans will likely appear on behalf of the Appellee.

Juliana V. United States, Anthony Reed

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Plaintiffs sued the United States government for promoting activities that were known to pollute the atmosphere and cause climate change. They claimed the government’s policies violated their rights under the substantive due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, the equal protection clause of the Ninth Amendment, and the public trust doctrine. The Ninth Circuit held it was not within the court’s Article III power to create and oversee a comprehensive plan capable of redressing the Plaintiffs’ injuries and, therefore, Plaintiffs lacked standing.

Navajo Nation V. United States Department Of The Interior, Adam W. Johnson

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Navajo Nation sued the United States government alleging the government breached its trust obligation over the allocation of water rights in the Colorado River Basin. On remand, the district court denied the Navajo Nation leave to file its third amended complaint for futility, holding that the general trust relationship was insufficient to support the Nation’s breach of trust claim.

Preview—United States Forest Service V. Cowpasture River Preservation Association: Can The Pipeline Cross The Trail?, Alizabeth Bronsdon

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral argument in this matter on Monday, February 24, 2020, at 10 a.m. in the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. Anthony Yang, Assistant to the Solicitor General, will likely argue for the United States. In a divided oral argument, Paul D. Clement will likely appear for Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, the petitioner in consolidated case No. 18-1587, Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC v. Cowpasture River Preservation Association. Michael K. Kellogg will likely appear for the Respondents.

Montana Environmental Information Center V. Department Of Environmental Quality, Anthony P. Reed

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The DEQ renewed a 1999 MPDES Permit on September 14, 2012 that allowed Western Energy Company to discharge pollutants from the Rosebud Mine into streams. Environmental groups MEIC and the Sierra Club sued, arguing this violated both the Montana Water Quality Act and federal Clean Water Act because the DEQ’s interpretation of its own regulations that exempted waters with ephemeral characteristics from water quality standards was arbitrary and capricious. The district court agreed, but the Montana Supreme Court reversed. It held the DEQ’s interpretation was lawful and remanded for further fact finding to assess how the DEQ applied the interpretation …

Northern Plains Resource Council V. United States Army Corps Of Engineers, Liz M. Forster

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Environmental activist and indigenous rights groups have challenged the validity of the Keystone XL Pipeline since its initial approval in 2010. In April 2020, less than a month after crews broke ground, the opposing groups notched a major win when the United States District Court for the District of Montana revoked a key permit for the project on the grounds that the United States Army Corps of Engineers had inadequately assessed the pipeline’s impact on endangered species.

An Exploration Of Zero Waste Policies And Recommendations For Missoula, Sarah Blyth Lundquist

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

“Zero Waste” is a concept and community goal that has arisen to challenge the current consumerist economic system and offer solutions for a number of environmental issues. In adopting this goal, individuals and communities pledge to reduce and divert at least 90% of their waste in a certain number of years. These goals can be reached by employing policies, programs, and other intervention tactics which establish Zero Waste infrastructure, ensure equitable and widespread access to Zero Waste services, and provide educational outreach and resources to the community. Missoula adopted a Zero Waste goal in 2016 and created a Zero Waste …

Beyond The Belloni Decision: Sohappy V.Smith And The Modern Era Of Tribal Treaty Rights, Monte Mills

Faculty Law Review Articles

Indian tribes and their members are leading a revived political, legal, and social movement to protect the nation’s natural resources. In doing so, tribes and their allies employ many effective strategies but core to the movement are the historic promises made to tribes by the United States through treaties. Tribes are asserting treaty protected rights, which the United States Constitution upholds as the supreme law of the land, to defend the resources on which they and their ancestors have relied for generations. Those claims have resulted in significant legal victories, igniting a broader movement in favor of tribal sovereignty and …

Out To Save The World: The Intersection Of Animal Welfare Law, Environmental Law, And Respect For Fragile Ecosystems, Stacey L. Gordon

Faculty Law Review Articles

Of all the living things on earth, humans have the unique ability to destroy all life. Paradoxically, even though our lives will ultimately be destroyed too, we also seem to have the inability to stop the destruction, or at least alack of will to stop it. As the daily litany of new destructions² piles up and both the pace and the quantity increase, each loss is buried in the pile beneath humanity’s other problems. When humans start prioritizing, the living environment—both flora and fauna—is often neglected, and sometimes purposely harmed.³ Even nonliving elements of nature are harmed. In …

Species Conservation & Recovery Through Adequate Regulatory Mechanisms, Sandra B. Zellmer, Sam J. Panarella, Oliver Finn Wood

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

The world is experiencing its sixth episode of mass extinction of life. In rhetoric typically used by bloggers rather than scientists, the National Academy of Sciences reports that this "biological annihilation" is more dire than previously believed,' and that the decimation of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services resulting from it is nothing less than a "frightening assault on the foundations of human civilization."2

Unlike previous episodes of mass extinction, this one is caused by human overpopulation, overconsumption, and anthropogenic climate change. The United States has been a world conservation leader for over a century, but its commitment to supporting …

Tribal Consultation Policy And Practice:A Case Study Of The Confederated Salish And Kootenai Tribes And Nmisuletkʷ (The Middle Fork Of The Clark Fork River) As A Tribal Trust Resource, Jennifer J. Harrington

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Formal, government-to-government Consultation between sovereign nations is a process of continuous relationship-building, a partnership and an agreement made with all points-of-view included in the process, with results that have the fingerprint of all nations involved evident. The Federal Government is obligated to work with Federally-recognized Tribes as sovereign nations in matters that have or will impact each Nation’s people and places (reservations, treaty-protected areas)—a process legally known as Consultation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as a federal agency, must uphold the Federal Trust responsibility which includes the act of Consulting with Federally-recognized Tribes on matters involving human health and the …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.