Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Pit River Tribe v. Bureau of Land Management

<> Pit River Tribe v. Bureau of Land Management - 7/20/15. In the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, Case No. 13-16961. The panel reversed the district court's order granting judgment on the pleadings in an action brought by environmental organizations challenging the Bureau of Land Management's continuation of 26 geothermal leases in northeastern California's Medicine Lake Highlands.
     Because BLM must conduct environmental, historical, and cultural review under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act before granting lease extensions under § 1005(g), the panel held that the environmental organizations' claim fell within § 1005(g)'s zone-of-interests, and the organizations had stated a claim under § 1005(g).