Description: Challenge to federal approvals for a 211-mile road through the southern Brooks Range and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve to provide access to a mining district.
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Northern Alaska Environmental Center v. Haaland
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 07/18/2022 Status Report Download Status report filed by defendants. 06/14/2022 Order Download Motions for reconsideration denied. Alaska Federal Court Denied Reconsideration of Remand Without Vacatur in Challenge to Mining Access Road. The federal district court for the District of Alaska declined to reconsider its order remanding without vacatur challenges to a mining access road project in the Brooks Range in Alaska. The court did, however, order federal defendants to provide notice of applications and authorizations for activities on federal lands and notice in advance of any ground-disturbing activities. 06/03/2022 Opposition Download Joint opposition filed by Ambler Metals, LLC et al. to plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration. 05/24/2022 Motion Download Motion for reconsideration and clarification regarding order re remand. 05/19/2022 Order Download Plaintiffs' briefs for summary judgment denied without prejudice. 05/17/2022 Order Download Motions for remand granted without vacatur. Alaska Federal Court Granted Remand Without Vacatur in Challenge to Road Project. The federal district court for the District of Alaska granted federal defendants’ motion for voluntary remand without vacatur of challenges to a road project in the Brooks Range in Alaska. The court found that remand was appropriate because the defendants had committed to taking further action with respect to challenged agency decisions, the potential issues identified by the federal defendants were “substantial and legitimate,” and there was no indication the federal defendants were acting in bad faith. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ contention that it could not remand the case because the federal defendants did not commit to addressing each of the plaintiffs’ claims. The court ordered the remand without vacatur both because it was not convinced it had authority to vacate the challenged actions absent a determination on the merits and also because the court found vacatur was not necessary to avoid prejudice to the plaintiffs and harm to the environment during the remand period. Plaintiffs filed a motion for reconsideration requesting that the court at least allow them to proceed with claims against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 03/22/2022 Response Download Intervenor-defendant Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority filed qualified response in opposition to defendants' motion for voluntary remand. 03/22/2022 Response Download Intervenor-Defendant Ambler Metals, LLC filed response to federal defendants' motion for voluntary remand. 03/22/2022 Response Download Response filed by plaintiffs to defendants' motion for voluntary remand. 02/22/2022 Motion Download Motion for voluntary demand filed by defendants. Federal Defendants Sought Voluntary Remand to Reconsider Mining Access Road Approvals. Federal defendants requested voluntary remand without vacatur in two cases challenging authorization of a 211-mile mining access road in Alaska. The defendants said “[a]dditional scrutiny” in the course of defending the merits of the case “has illuminated legal flaws that Defendants intend to reconsider through a further administrative process,” in particular consider of impacts to subsistence uses under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. The defendants also plan to supplement the NEPA analysis. 12/01/2021 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Opening brief for summary judgment filed by plaintiffs. 09/28/2021 Motion Download Motion for stay filed by defendants. 08/04/2020 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Conservation Groups Filed Challenge to Mining Access Road Through National Park in Alaska. Conservation groups filed a lawsuit challenging federal approvals for a 211-mile road through the southern Brooks Range and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve that would provide access to a mining district and be funded by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. The plaintiffs asserted claims under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act (including failure to adequately analyze impacts on greenhouse gas emissions), the Clean Water Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. -
Alatna Village Council v. Padgett
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 01/17/2023 Status Report Download Fourth status report filed by defendants. 11/15/2022 Status Report Download Third status report filed by defendants. 10/10/2022 Response Download Objecting intervenors filed response to defendants' status report. 09/16/2022 Status Report Download Status report filed by defendants. 07/18/2022 Status Report Download Status report filed by defendants. 06/01/2022 Response Download Response filed by defendants to motion for reconsideration. 05/24/2022 Joinder Download Plaintiffs filed joinder in and supplement to motion for reconsideration and clarification. 04/05/2022 Reply Download Reply filed in support of defendants' motion for voluntary remand. 03/22/2022 Opposition Download Qualified response in opposition to defendants' motion for voluntary remand filed by intervenor-defendant Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. 03/22/2022 Opposition Download Opposition filed by State of Alaska to motion for voluntary remand. 03/22/2022 Opposition Download Response filed by plaintiffs in opposition to defendants' motion for voluntary remand. 03/22/2022 Response Download Response to defendants' motion for voluntary remand filed by intervenor-defendant Ambler Metals, LLC. 03/22/2022 Response Download Response to defendants' motion for voluntary remand filed by NANA Regional Corporation, Inc. 03/16/2022 Notice Download Notice of suspension decisions filed by defendants. 02/22/2022 Motion Download Motion for voluntary remand filed by defendants. Federal Defendants Sought Voluntary Remand to Reconsider Mining Access Road Approvals. Federal defendants requested voluntary remand without vacatur in two cases challenging authorization of a 211-mile mining access road in Alaska. The defendants said “[a]dditional scrutiny” in the course of defending the merits of the case “has illuminated legal flaws that Defendants intend to reconsider through a further administrative process,” in particular consider of impacts to subsistence uses under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. The defendants also plan to supplement the NEPA analysis. 10/27/2021 Order Download Matter stayed until November 29, 2021. 09/30/2021 Response Download State of Alaska filed amended response opposing federal defendants' motion to stay. 09/28/2021 Motion Download Motion for stay filed by defendants. 10/07/2020 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Second Lawsuit Filed to Challenge 211-Mile Mining Access Road in Alaska. The governing bodies of six federally-recognized Indian Tribes in Alaska and a consortium of tribal leaders filed a lawsuit challenging federal approvals of the Ambler Road Project, which their complaint described as a “a 211-mile, year-round, industrial access road that would traverse some of the most remote and undeveloped lands in Alaska” and “facilitate the construction of four large-scale mines for the extraction of copper, lead, zinc, silver, gold, cobalt, and molybdenum.” The plaintiffs asserted claims under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The plaintiffs’ NEPA arguments include that the final environmental impact statement failed to adequately address climate change. Another lawsuit challenging the Ambler Road Project was filed in August.