Description: Challenge to lifting of moratorium on federal coal leasing and cessation of programmatic environmental review of leasing program.
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Citizens for Clean Energy v. U.S. Department of Interior
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 01/09/2023 Motion to Dismiss Download Motion to dismiss appeal for lack of jurisdiction filed. -
Citizens for Clean Energy v. U.S. Department of Interior
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 08/12/2022 Order Download Plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment granted in part and denied as moot in part and defendants' and intervenors' motions for summary judgment and to dismiss denied. Montana Federal Court Reinstated Moratorium on Federal Coal Leasing Program. The federal district court for the District of Montana vacated and remanded the final environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) prepared for former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s 2017 order that terminated a NEPA review of the federal coal leasing program ordered by former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and directed BLM to resume issuing coal leases. The court previously ruled that Zinke’s order constituted major federal action requiring NEPA review. At issue in this case was whether BLM’s subsequent review satisfied National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements. As an initial matter, the court held that Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland’s order revoking Secretary Zinke’s order did not moot the claims because the coal leasing moratorium put in place by former Secretary Jewell remained revoked. On the merits, the court found that BLM’s environmental assessment did not satisfy NEPA and Administrative Procedure Act requirements because its limited analysis of four leases deemed traceable to the Zinke order failed to consider all direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of restarting the coal leasing program. The court said BLM should have used a status quo of a moratorium on coal leasing as its baseline alternative and should not have presumed that the moratorium was limited to the three-year period anticipated for completion of the programmatic environmental impact statement for the coal leasing program. The court further found that BLM “arbitrarily curtailed” even its assessment of the four leases’ impacts. The court reinstated the moratorium pending completion of sufficient NEPA review. 03/22/2022 Reply Download Reply filed by federal defendants in support of cross-motion for summary judgment. 02/24/2022 Brief Download State plaintiffs filed brief in opposition to defendants' cross-motions for summary judgment and reply in support of motion for summary judgment. 02/24/2022 Reply Download Response and reply brief filed in support of plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on supplemental complaint. 02/17/2022 Reply Download Reply filed by intervenor-defendant National Mining Association in support of motion to dismiss for mootness. 02/03/2022 Opposition Download Joint brief filed by plaintiffs in opposition to National Mining Association's motion to dismiss. 01/27/2022 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Memorandum of points and authorities filed by intervenor-defendant National Mining Association in support of cross-motion for summary judgment and opposition to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 01/27/2022 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Joint memorandum filed by intervenor-defendants Wyoming and Montana in support of cross motion for summary judgment and in response to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 01/20/2022 Brief Download Brief filed by intervenor-defendants Wyoming and Montana in support of National Mining Association motion to dismiss. 01/20/2022 Response Download Brief filed by federal defendants in response to National Mining Association motion to dismiss. 01/13/2022 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Memorandum filed by federal defendants in support of cross-motion for summary judgment and opposing plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 01/05/2022 Order Download Order issued regarding briefing schedule. 12/10/2021 Status Report Download Joint status report filed. 07/13/2021 Order Download Joint motion for stay granted. 07/12/2021 Motion Download Joint motion for stay of proceedings filed. 07/06/2021 Motion Download Memorandum of points and authorities filed by intervenor-defendant National Mining Association in support of motion to dismiss for mootness. 06/03/2021 Order Download Federal defendants' motion for stay denied. Montana Federal Court Declined to Stay Proceedings in Environmental Groups and States’ Challenge to Lifting of Moratorium on Federal Coal Leasing. The federal district court for the District of Montana denied federal defendants’ request for a 90-day stay in proceedings challenging the Trump administration’s lifting of the Obama administration’s moratorium on federal coal leasing. Briefing is currently underway on summary judgment motions regarding the adequacy of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the lifting of the moratorium. BLM issued the EA and FONSI in response to the court’s 2019 decision finding that the lifting of the moratorium was a “major federal action” requiring review under the National Environmental Policy Act. In April 2021, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland issued Secretarial Order 3398, which revoked former Secretary Ryan Zinke’s order that lifted the moratorium. Secretary Haaland’s order directed agencies to prepare a report with a plan for reversing, amending, or updating the policies implementing the Zinke order. The court found, however, that there was a “fair possibility” that previous and ongoing implementation of the Zinke order’s policies would cause damage to the plaintiffs’ interests in air quality, water quality, wildlife habitat, cultural sites, and mitigation of climate change impacts. The court further found that the federal defendants failed to establish that they would suffer hardship if the case proceeded and that “the orderly course of justice further weighs in favor of the Court maintaining the current schedule” since it “remains doubtful that Federal Defendants can complete their agency review and related policy change within a reasonable time.” 06/01/2021 Opposition Download Joint brief filed by environmental group plaintiffs in opposition to federal defendants' motion to stay. 05/18/2021 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Brief filed in support of plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on the supplemental complaint. 05/18/2021 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Brief filed by state plaintiffs in support of motion for summary judgment. 05/17/2021 Motion Download Motion for stay filed by defendants. 07/23/2020 Order Download Plaintiffs' joint motion for leave to supplement their complaints granted. Plaintiffs Challenged Environmental Assessment for Revocation of Moratorium on Federal Coal Leasing. The federal district court for the District of Montana allowed plaintiffs to supplement their complaints in lawsuits challenging the U.S. Department of the Interior’s failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it lifted the moratorium on the federal coal leasing program. The plaintiffs sought to challenge the environmental assessment (EA) prepared by the defendants after the court ruled that lifting the moratorium was an action subject to NEPA. The plaintiffs alleged several flaws in the EA, including ignoring cumulative impacts and arbitrarily refusing to use the social cost of carbon or another metric to assess greenhouse gas impacts. The plaintiffs also contended that the absence of consideration in the EA and finding of no significant impact of the long-term public benefits of addressing climate change and other impacts violated the Mineral Leasing Act. 07/20/2020 Brief Download Brief filed in support of plaintiffs' joint motion for leave to supplement their complaints. 07/20/2020 Complaint Download Proposed first supplemental complaint filed by environmental groups. 07/20/2020 Complaint Download Proposed first supplemental complaint filed by states. 07/20/2020 Motion Download Joint motion filed by plaintiffs for leave to supplement their complaints. 05/22/2020 Order Download Plaintiffs' requested relief denied and case closed. Montana Federal Court Said Issuance of EA and FONSI for Lifting of Moratorium on Coal Program Remedied NEPA Violations. The federal district court for the District of Montana found that the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Secretary of the Interior, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had complied with the court’s previous order requiring them to initiate the NEPA process in connection with the Trump administration’s lifting of the moratorium on the federal coal leasing program. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell instituted the moratorium in January 2016 and directed BLM to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement for the federal coal program that addressed climate change, among other issues. After the court’s previous order, BLM in February 2020 issued a final environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI); the court noted that the EA’s analysis was based on analysis of the impacts of resuming coal lease processing 24 months earlier and that the FONSI “relies heavily on the fact that the [moratorium] disrupted a 40-year framework for coal leasing, and the finite nature of the [moratorium], together with the NEPA review of individual leases limited the effects” of lifting the moratorium. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ contention that the final EA and FONSI did not remedy the NEPA violations identified by the court. Although the court declined to engage in a substantive review of the EA and FONSI “without a new complaint and administrative record to review,” it said the plaintiffs “remain free to challenge the sufficiency of the NEPA analysis.” 05/05/2020 Reply Download Reply brief on remedy filed by plaintiffs. 04/21/2020 Brief Download Joint substitute brief on remedy filed by intervenor-defendants State of Wyoming, State of Montana, and National Mining Association. 04/21/2020 Response Download Response filed by federal defendants to plaintiffs' substitute brief on remedy. 03/18/2020 Request Download Request for a status conference filed by federal defendants. 03/10/2020 Brief Download Substitute brief on remedy filed by plaintiffs. 02/27/2020 Notice Download Defendant filed notice of publication of finding of no significant impact and environmental assessment. Department of Interior Notified Court of Completion of Environmental Assessment for Resumption of Coal Leasing; No Significant Impacts Found. Federal defendants notified the federal district court for the District of Montana that they had posted a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) and final environmental assessment (EA) on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management website to comply with the court’s April 2019 ruling that the lifting of the Obama administration’s moratorium on coal leasing was a “major federal action” triggering obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The FONSI stated that “[i]n the Department [of the Interior]’s view,” the order lifting the moratorium “does not have environmental effect because it does not, in itself, authorize sale or issuance of any new coal leases.” The FONSI indicated that the Department of the Interior believed that the order did not alter substantive law but merely altered a choice the Obama administration made that the Department believed was inconsistent with existing law. The FONSI said the Final EA “documented the effects and consequences of lifting the [moratorium] and resuming application processing sooner than anticipated.” Because of the “temporary nature” of the Obama administration moratorium, the FONSI concluded that the effects of lifting the moratorium were “limited to the timing of lease issuances” and that resumption of leasing practices, including compliance with NEPA, therefore “created no significant, unstudied impacts.” 07/31/2019 Order Download Order issued postponing ruling on remedies. Federal Court Postponed Remedies Ruling to Allow Federal Defendants to Complete Environmental Assessment of Ending Federal Coal Moratorium. The federal district court for the District of Montana postponed its remedies ruling in the case challenging Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s lifting of the Obama administration’s moratorium on federal coal leasing. In April 2019, the court ruled that the lifting of the moratorium was subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and in May, the federal defendants issued a 35-page draft environmental assessment (EA). Although the plaintiffs argued that the appropriate remedy for the defendants’ failure to comply with NEPA was vacatur and contended that the draft EA did not overcome the deficiencies, the court concluded that it was appropriate to postpone a ruling on remedies to allow the federal defendants to complete their environmental review. The defendants told the court that they anticipated they would reach a determination on whether an environmental impact statement was required by August 5, 2019. 07/22/2019 Brief Download Remedy brief filed by federal defendants. 07/22/2019 Brief Download Joint brief on remedy filed by intervenor-defendants Wyoming, Montana, and National Mining Association. 07/22/2019 Brief Download Brief on remedy filed by plaintiffs. 06/18/2019 Order Download Federal defendants' motion for enlargement of time for remedy briefing. Remedy Briefs to Be Submitted in July in Challenge to Lifting of Moratorium on Federal Coal Leasing; Federal Government Took Comments on Draft EA Through June 10. The federal district court for the District of Montana granted the federal government more time to submit briefing on the appropriate remedies for the government’s failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke lifted the Obama administration’s moratorium on the federal coal leasing program. The federal government notified the court on May 22, 2019 that it had published a draft environmental assessment (EA) for the coal program in partial compliance with the court’s April 2019 order that found violations of NEPA and the Administrative Procedure Act. The plaintiffs countered that remedies briefing was still necessary despite publication of the draft EA. The court directed that the parties submit remedy briefs by the earlier of (1) 14 days after the defendants determine whether to issue a finding of no significant impact or to prepare an environmental impact statement or (2) July 22, 2019. The public comment period on the draft EA ended on June 10. 05/30/2019 Response Download Response filed by plaintiffs to federal defendants' notice of partial compliance. Plaintiffs Said Environmental Assessment Didn’t Qualify as Compliance with Court Order. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe and conservation groups subsequently filed a response indicating that they did not view publication of the draft EA as “partial compliance” with the court’s April 2019 order finding that the lifting of the moratorium required compliance with NEPA. The Tribe and conservation groups said they would therefore submit a brief regarding appropriate remedies for the federal defendants’ NEPA violations. 05/22/2019 Notice Download Federal defendants filed notice of partial compliance with April 19, 2019 order and of the availability of an environmental assessment. Federal Government Notified Montana Federal Court of Draft EA for Lifting of Federal Coal Program Moratorium. The federal defendants filed a notice of partial compliance with the federal district court for the District of Montana to inform the court that it had published a draft environmental assessment (EA) that considers the environmental impacts of former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s lifting of the moratorium on the federal coal program. 04/19/2019 Order Download Plaintiffs' and defendants' motions and cross-motions for summary judgment granted in part and denied in part. Montana Federal Court Said Lifting of Moratorium on Coal Leasing Triggered NEPA. The federal district court for the District of Montana ruled that the Trump administration’s lifting of a moratorium on coal leasing triggered the need to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell issued an order in January 2016 directing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for the federal coal leasing program. The order also imposed a moratorium on coal leasing until the PEIS was completed. In March 2017, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke issued an order determining that a PEIS was not necessary and lifting the moratorium. The district court found that the Zinke order met the requirements both for “major federal action” triggering obligations under NEPA and also for reviewable final agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act. The court also determined, as threshold matters, that the state and organizational plaintiffs had standing and that their claims were ripe. Although the court concluded that it could not at this point compel the defendants to prepare a PEIS, it ordered the defendants to take the initial step under NEPA of determining the extent of environmental analysis that was necessary. The court also directed the parties to attempt to reach an agreement on potential remedies within 30 days or, alternatively, if they could not reach agreement, to submit briefing on the Monsanto factors for permanent injunctive relief. 12/03/2018 Reply Download Joint reply filed by intervenor-defendants Wyoming and Montana in support of cross-motion for summary judgment. 11/16/2018 Reply Download Reply filed by federal defendants in support of cross-motion for summary judgment. 10/16/2018 Brief Download State plaintiffs filed brief in opposition to defendants' and intervenor-defendants' cross-motions for summary judgment and reply in support of motion for summary judgment. 10/16/2018 Reply Download Reply brief filed in support of plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 09/19/2018 Memorandum Download Intervenor-defendants Wyoming and Montana filed joint memorandum in support of cross-motion for summary judgment and response to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 09/07/2018 Memorandum Download Memorandum filed by federal defendants in support of their cross-motion for summary judgment and opposing plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment. 08/03/2018 Amicus Brief Download Amicus brief filed on behalf of Professor Michael Greenstone. An economist who is a former co-head of the federal Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases submitted an amicus brief to assist the court in determining whether significant new scientific information justifies requiring supplemental environmental review of the coal leasing program and whether the decision to revoke Secretary Jewell’s order was a major federal action that could significantly affect the environment. 07/27/2018 Brief Download Opening brief filed by conservation groups and Northern Cheyenne Tribe in support of plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs Sought Summary Judgment in Challenges to Resumption of Federal Coal Leasing Program. States, conservation groups, and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe filed motions for summary judgment in their lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s resumption of the federal coal leasing program and its termination of the programmatic environmental impact review of the program. In March 2017, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke issued Secretarial Order 3348, which revoked Secretarial Order 3338, issued by former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell in January 2016. Secretary Jewell’s order commenced the process for the programmatic review and put in place a moratorium on new federal coal leases. The plaintiffs argued that Secretary Zinke’s order was a “major federal action” that required consideration of potential environmental impacts, including climate impacts, under NEPA. The states also argued that the defendants had violated the Mineral Leasing Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide an reasoned explanation for the reversal of the defendants’ prior position that comprehensive review of the federal program was necessary. The conservation groups and Northern Cheyenne Tribe argued that the order violated NEPA by failing to consider impacts to the Tribe and also argued that the defendants violated their trust obligation to the Tribe. The federal defendants’ response and cross-motion for summary judgment is due on September 7. 07/27/2018 Brief Download Brief filed by state plaintiffs in support of motion for summary judgment 02/21/2018 Reply Download Reply filed by federal defendants in support of motion for partial reconsideration of order requiring supplementation of the administrative record. 02/07/2018 Brief Download Brief submitted by plaintiffs in opposition to motion for reconsideration. 01/24/2018 Motion Download Motion filed by federal defendants for reconsideration of order requiring supplementation of the administrative record. 12/01/2017 Amicus Motion Download Motion for leave to file amicus curiae brief in support of plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment filed by Institute for Policy Integrity. 12/01/2017 Amicus Motion Download Motion for leave to file an amicus brief filed by Professor Michael Greenstone. Michael Greenstone, an economist and professor at the University of Chicago and formerly Chief Economist for President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, requested leave to file an amicus brief to assist the court to make two points: (1) explaining the significance of lifting the coal leasing moratorium without completing an updated environmental review of the federal coal program by demonstrating the societal costs of climate change and air pollution caused by new coal leasing and (2) explaining advances in climate-change economics since the last programmatic review of the coal leasing program in 1979. 11/21/2017 Order Download Plaintiffs' motion to supplement administrative record granted. 06/02/2017 Order Download Motion to consolidate granted. 05/31/2017 Motion Download Motion to consolidate filed. 03/29/2017 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Lawsuit Filed Challenging Repeal of Federal Coal Leasing Moratorium. Seven environmental organizations and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Montana challenging the Secretary of the Interior’s decisions to repeal the moratorium on federal coal leasing and to abandon an ongoing programmatic environmental review of the coal leasing program. The Obama administration imposed the moratorium and commenced the review in January 2016. The plaintiffs alleged that the Secretary of the Interior’s actions violated the National Environmental Policy Act because they would allow new coal leasing to occur without a review of the leasing program’s impacts, including climate impacts caused by the burning of coal. The complaint alleged that U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had completed the original programmatic environmental review of the leasing program in 1979 “at a time when the threat of climate change had not yet been fully realized or understood” and that BLM had never undertaken “a review of whether it can continue its coal leasing program and fulfill its climate commitments, as well as its land-stewardship obligations that are placed in jeopardy by a changing climate.” The plaintiffs contended that the repeal of the moratorium was a major federal action requiring a programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) or, alternatively, that new information about climate change since 1979 required the preparation of a supplemental programmatic EIS. -
California v. Zinke
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 07/25/2017 Order Download Order issued granting Wyoming motion to intervene. Montana Federal Court Allowed Wyoming to Intervene in Challenge to Lifting of Coal Leasing Moratorium. The federal district court for the District of Montana granted the State of Wyoming’s motion to intervene in a lawsuit brought by four states to challenge the Department of the Interior’s lifting of the Obama administration’s moratorium on the federal coal leasing program. The court said Wyoming met the standard for intervention as of right because it contained a number of coal leases affected by the moratorium and because it occupied a different position than the United States due to its “unique interests as a high volume coal producing state.” 05/09/2017 Complaint Download Complaint filed. States Challenged Restarting of Federal Coal Leasing Program. California, New Mexico, New York, and Washington sued Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Department of the Interior in the federal district court for the District of Montana, seeking to stop the defendants from restarting the federal coal leasing program. The states asked the court to set aside Secretarial Order 3348, in which Secretary Zinke revoked a secretarial order issued by his predecessor Sally Jewell that ordered a programmatic environmental impact review of the coal leasing program and placed a moratorium on new coal leases pending the completion of the review. The states alleged that the defendants had failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Mineral Leasing Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The states asserted that they had been leaders in working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to impede climate change and that they had a significant interest in ensuring that the federal coal leasing program did not undermine these efforts. The states also alleged that they had experienced and would continue to experience the adverse impacts of climate change. They asserted that previously conducted environmental reviews of the coal leasing program did not consider and evaluate the program’s climate change impacts. On May 31, 2017, the states’ action was consolidated with a lawsuit brought by the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and environmental groups.