The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Forest Service in a challenge to the Service’s determination that a mining company held a valid existing right to operate a uranium mine in the Kaibab National Forest. Environmental groups argued that sunk costs should have been considered when e...
A district court dismissed as moot a lawsuit seeking to reinstate a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline to cross the U.S.-Canada border. Twenty-three states challenged the president's authority to revoke the permit, arguing the permitting decision concerned only international and interstate comm...
A district court denied Oklahoma's motion for preliminary injunction in a lawsuit concerning OSM's decision to strip the state of its regulatory authority over surface mining on the Muscogee (Creek) Nation's reservation. Oklahoma sought to enjoin OSM from enforcing its decision, arguing that the sta...
We are told the transition to a zero-carbon economy will depend upon the United States’ ability to assure a sufficient supply of rare earths and minerals such as cobalt, nickel, or lithium. The Biden Administration is intent on promoting some new form of a critical mineral policy, and calls for reforming the 1872 Mining Law have persisted for well over one hundred years. This Article is designed to provoke a meaningful conversation about a critical minerals policy informed by our past.
A district court granted EPA's motion to remand and vacate the Agency's 2019 decision to withdraw a proposed determination that would have restricted a copper and gold mine from using certain waters at disposal sites for dredged and fill material. The court found that neither retention of jurisdicti...