Description: Challenge to resource management plans for areas in Montana and Wyoming in the Powder River Basin.
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Western Organization of Resource Councils v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 01/02/2019 Order Download Court granted motions to dismiss appeals voluntarily. Ninth Circuit Granted Voluntary Dismissal of Appeals of Decision on NEPA Analysis of Powder River Basin Resource Management Plans’ Climate Impacts. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted motions for voluntary dismissal of appeals of a Montana federal district court’s decision that found deficiencies in some aspects of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of the climate change impacts of resource management plans (RMPs) for the Powder River Basin. The plaintiffs, federal defendants, coal company intervenors, and the State of Wyoming had all appealed the district court’s decision. The voluntary dismissals followed BLM’s publication in the Federal Register on November 28 of notices that it intended to prepare supplemental environmental impact statements and potential amendments for the RMPs. 12/27/2018 Motion Download Stipulated motion for voluntary dismissal filed by intervenor-defendant-appellant Cloud Peak Energy Inc. 12/21/2018 Motion Download Stipulated motion for voluntary dismissal filed by plaintiffs-appellants Western Organization of Resource Councils et al. 12/21/2018 Motion Download Stipulated motion for voluntary dismissal filed by federal parties. 12/21/2018 Motion Download Stipulated motion for voluntary dismissal filed by intervenor-defendants-appellants Peabody Caballo Mining, LLC and BTU Western Resources, Inc. 12/21/2018 Motion Download Stipulated motion for voluntary dismissal filed by intervenor-defendant-appellant State of Wyoming. -
Western Organization of Resource Councils v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 10/15/2018 Notice of Appeal Download Notice of appeal filed by intervenor-defendant Cloud Peak Energy Inc. 10/15/2018 Notice of Appeal Download Amended notice of appeal filed by defendant-intervenors Peabody Caballo Mining, LLC, and BTU Western Resources, Inc. 10/12/2018 Notice of Appeal Download Notice of cross-appeal filed by environmental groups. 10/11/2018 Notice of Appeal Download Notice of appeal filed by intervenor-defendant State of Wyoming. 10/01/2018 Notice of Appeal Download Notice of appeal filed by federal defendants. Appeals Filed in Case Finding Inadequate Climate Change Analyses in NEPA Review for Powder River Basin Resource Management Plans. BLM, Wyoming, three coal mining companies, and environmental groups have appealed a Montana federal court’s decision finding that some climate change analyses for Resource Management Plans for the Powder River Basin were inadequate. The parties are appealing the court’s March 2018 opinion and order as well as its July 2018 remedy order, in which the court declined to enjoin issuance of new mineral leases and gave BLM 16 months to complete new NEPA reviews. 07/31/2018 Order Download Order issued setting schedule for remedial NEPA review and denying motion for reconsideration. Montana Federal Court Set Schedule for Remedial NEPA Review for Resource Management Plans, Declined to Enjoin Issuance of Mineral Leases. On July 31, 2018, the federal district court for the District of Montana issued an order setting the remedy for a deficient environmental review the court identified in a March 26, 2018 opinion. In the March opinion, the court found that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had not adequately analyzed climate change issues when it approved resource management plans for two field offices in the Powder River Basin. In its July 31 order, the court adopted a 16-month expedited schedule for the remedial analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Because the court had already required that the federal defendants conduct remedial NEPA analyses prior to issuing any new or pending oil, gas, or coal leases in the planning areas, the court found that the plaintiffs had failed to establish the irreparable injury necessary for an order enjoining issuance of new leases. The court also declined to vacate the record of decision, which would have resulted in invalidating 12 resource management plans for millions of acres and would have caused the management plans for the areas at issue in this case to revert to plans approved in the 1980s and 1990s. The court also denied a motion by the defendants for reconsideration of a portion of its March opinion. 05/25/2018 Brief Download Remedy brief filed by federal defendants. 05/25/2018 Brief Download Joint remedy brief filed by defendant-intervenors. 05/25/2018 Brief Download Remedies brief filed by plaintiffs. 04/27/2018 Motion Download Motion filed by federal defendants for leave to seek reconsideration of order. 03/26/2018 Opinion and Order Download Plaintiffs' and defendants' motions for summary judgment granted in part and denied in part. Montana Federal Court Said Some Climate Change Analyses for Powder River Basin Resource Management Plans Were Inadequate. The federal district court for the District of Montana found that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it approved Resource Management Plans (RMPs) for two field offices in the Powder River Basin. The court said BLM should have considered alternatives that would decrease the amount of extractable coal available for leasing based on climate change concerns. The court also said BLM was required to consider “the environmental consequences of the downstream combustion of the coal, oil and gas resources potentially open to development under these RMPs” and not defer such analysis until the leasing stage, and that BLM had based its assessment of methane pollution on outdated science and a scientifically inappropriate time horizon. The court deferred, however, to BLM’s assessment of cumulative greenhouse gas impacts, rejecting the plaintiffs’ assertion that BLM should have been required to use a metric such as a “global carbon budget” or “social cost of carbon protocol” as the standard for measuring cumulative climate impacts. The court also upheld BLM’s consideration of methane mitigation measures and its reliance on national ambient air quality standards in its air quality analysis. 10/06/2017 Reply Download Reply brief filed by defendant-intervenor Cloud Peak Energy Inc. in support of cross-motion for summary judgment. 10/06/2017 Reply Download Reply brief filed by Peabody Caballo Mining, LLC and BTU Western Resources, Inc. in support of cross-motion for partial summary judgment. 09/29/2017 Reply Download Reply brief filed by federal defendants in support of cross-motion for summary judgment. 09/08/2017 Reply Download Reply submitted by plaintiffs in support of motion for summary judgment and opposing defendants' cross-motions for summary judgment. 08/18/2017 Brief Download Brief filed by defendant-intervenor Cloud Peak Energy. 08/18/2017 Brief Download Brief filed by Peabody Caballo Mining and BTU Western Resources. 08/18/2017 Response Download Response filed by Wyoming in opposition to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 08/11/2017 Brief Download Brief filed by federal defendants. 07/14/2017 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Memorandum submitted by plaintiffs in support of motion for summary judgment. 05/31/2017 Complaint Download Amended complaint filed. 01/25/2017 Opinion and Order Download Opinion and order issued. Montana Federal Court Kept NEPA Challenges to Wyoming and Montana Resource Management Plans in One Court. The federal district court for the District of Montana declined to sever National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) claims concerning a resource management plan (RMP) for a field office in Wyoming from an action that also concerned an RMP for a Montana field office. The court said that while there was “great benefit in local controversies being decided at home,” other factors tilted slightly in favor of considering the claims together, citing the deference owed to plaintiffs’ choice of forum. The plaintiffs—a collection of environmental groups—contended that the United States Bureau of Land Management’s NEPA review for the RMPs was insufficient because it failed to consider reasonable alternatives that would allow less coal leasing, failed to consider an alternative requiring reasonable and cost-effective mitigation of methane emissions from oil and gas development, failed to address indirect impacts from downstream combustion of fossil fuels, omitted discussion of the “breadth and scale” of greenhouse gas emissions, failed to take a hard look at methane pollution, and failed to consider cumulative air impacts.