Case 2:07-cv-00526-DME Document 83 Filed 08/07/09 Page 1 of 48 JOHN C. CRUDEN Acting Assistant Attorney General R. LEE LEININGER U.S. Department of Justice Environment & Natural Resources Division 1961 Stout Street, Suite 800 Denver, CO 80294 (303) 844-1364 [email protected] KRISTOFOR R. SWANSON U.S. Department of Justice Environment & Natural Resources Division P.O. Box 663 Washington, DC 20044 (202) 305-0248 [email protected] BRETT L. TOLMAN United States Attorney JEANNETTE F. SWENT Assistant U.S. Attorney, USB # 6043 185 South State Street, #300 Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 (801) 325-3220 Attorneys for Federal Defendants IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION ____________________________________ ) SKULL VALLEY BAND OF GOSHUTE ) INDIANS, et al., ) Case No 2:07CV00526-DME-DN ) Plaintiffs,)DEFENDANTS’ RESPONSE BRIEF ) ON THE MERITS v. ) ) Senior Circuit Judge David M. Ebel LAURA DANIEL DAVIS, et al.,) ) Defendants.) ____________________________________) TABLE OF CONTENTS Case 2:07-cv-00526-DME Document 83 Filed 08/07/09 Page 2 of 48 INTRODUCTION .............................................................1 STATEMENT OF FACTS ......................................................1 STATUTORY & REGULATORY BACKGROUND ................................11 I. Indian Long-Term Leasing Act ............................................11 II. Federal Land Policy and Management Act...................................12 III. National Environmental Policy Act .........................................12 STANDARD OF REVIEW .....................................................13 ARGUMENT. 14 I. The Agency Decisions Were Not the Result of Either Irregular Processes or Undue Political Influence ..............................................15 A. The Department Appropriately Followed Applicable Procedures ...........15 B. The Department’s Decisions Did Not Result From Improper Political Influence ................................................18 II. Associate Deputy Secretary Carson Made A Well-Reasoned Conclusion, Supported by the Record, Not to Approve the Lease ...........................20 A. Section 415(a) Grants the Secretary Wide Discretion in Deciding Whether to Approve Leases.................................20 B. The Department Acted As a Prudent Trustee By Not Approving the Lease Absent Reliable Assurances as to the On-Going Protection of the Band’s Reservation ..........................................21 1. The Associate Deputy Secretary Made a Reasoned Conclusion On The Uncertainty of Future Waste Removal..................................................22 2. The Associate Deputy Secretary Made a Reasoned Conclusion Regarding Police Protection.........................24 -i- Case 2:07-cv-00526-DME Document 83 Filed 08/07/09 Page 3 of 48 3. Additional Section 415(a) Factors ..............................27 C. The Department’s Trust Relationship with the Band Does Not Require Absolute Deference to the Band’s Desired Land Use .......................................................28 III. Acting Assistant Secretary Calvert’s Made a Well-Reasoned Decision, Supported by the Record, to Deny the Right-Of-Way ...........................30 IV. Plaintiffs Have Failed to Present a Cognizable Claim Under NEPA ...............33 A. Plaintiffs’ Lack Standing to Assert a Claim Under NEPA .................33 B. NEPA Regulations Did Not Require the Agencies to Supplement the FEIS Here ..........................................35 C. The Timing of the Department’s Decision Was Well-Reasoned, And Any Further Environmental Review at the Present Time Would Be Meaningless ............................................37 CONCLUSION ..............................................................39 -ii- Case 2:07-cv-00526-DME Document 83 Filed 08/07/09 Page 4 of 48 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES CASES Alliance for Bio-Integrity v. Shalala, 116 F. Supp. 2d 166 (D.D.C. 2000) .................34 Ashley Creek Phosphate Co. v. Norton, 420 F.3d 934 (9th Cir. 2005) ....................34 Blackbear v. Norton, 93 Fed. App’x. 192 (10th Cir. Mar. 5, 2004) ....................... 6 Bowman Transp., Inc. v. Arkansas-Best Freight Sys., Inc., 419 U.S. 281 (1974) .......................................................... 13 Brown v. United States (“Brown II”), 42 Fed. Cl. 538 (1998) ...................... 21, 28 Bullcreek v. NRC, 359 F.3d 536 (D.C. Cir. 2004) .....................................6 Camp v. Pitts, 411 U.S. 138 (1973) .............................................. 14 Chihuahuan Grasslands Alliance v. Kempthorne, 545 F.3d 884 (10th Cir. 2008) ............................................................. 35 Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping v. Dep’t of Energy, 485 F.3d 1091 (10th Cir. 2007) ................................................. 14 Citizens’ Comm. to Save Our Canyons v. Krueger, 513 F.3d 1169 (10th Cir. 2008) ............................................................. 13 Colo. Health Care Ass’n v. Colo. Dep’t of Soc. Serv., 842 F.2d 1158 (10th Cir. 1988) ............................................................. 14 Colorado Envtl. Coal. v. Wenker, 353 F.3d 1221 (10th Cir. 2004) ...................... 35 Committee to Save the Rio Hondo v. Lucero, 102 F.3d 445 (10th Cir. 1996) .......................................................... 33, 34 Cotton Petroleum Corporation v. U.S. Department of the Interior, 870 F.2d 1515 (10th Cir. 1989) ................................................. 17 Davis v. Morton, 469 F.2d 593 (10th Cir. 1972) .....................................36 -iii- Case 2:07-cv-00526-DME Document 83 Filed 08/07/09 Page 5 of 48 Devia v. NRC, No. 05-1419, 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 15411 (D.C. Cir. June 26, 2007) ........................................................6 Fund for Animals v. Thomas, 127 F.3d 80 (D.C. Cir. 1997) ........................... 34 Hoopa Valley Tribe v. Christie, 812 F.2d 1097 (9th Cir. 1986) .........................17 In re Subpoena Duces Tecum Served on Office of Comptroller of Currency, 156 F.3d 1279 (D.C. Cir. 1998) ..................................................14 Kootenai Tribe of Idaho v. Veneman, 313 F.3d 1094 (9th Cir. 2002) .................... 34 Lower Brule Sioux Tribe v. Deer, 911 F. Supp. 395 (D.S.D. 1995) ..................... 17 Marsh v. Or. Natural Res. Council, 490 U.S. 360 (1989) .......................... 12, 36 Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29 (1983) ........................................................... 13 National Ass’n of Home Builders v. U.S. Army Corps of Engn’rs, 417 F.3d 1272 (D.C. Cir. 2005) ................................................. 34 Nevada Land Action Ass’n v. United States Forest Serv., 8 F.3d 713 (9th Cir.1993) ..................................................... 34 New Mexico ex rel. Richardson v. Bureau of Land Mgmt., 565 F.3d 683 (10th Cir. 2009) ................................................. 14 Norton v. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (“SUWA”), 542 U.S. 55 (2003) ........................................................... 37 Nw. Sea Farms v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs, 931 F. Supp. 1515 (W.D. Wash. 1996) ...........................................................36 Olenhouse v. Commodity Credit Corp., 42 F.3d 1560 (10th Cir. 1994) ...................13 Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council, 490 U.S. 332 (1989) .................... 12 Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. McDivitt, 286 F.3d 1031 (8th Cir. 2002) .................... 34, 35 Sabine River Authority v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 951 F.2d 669 (5th Cir. 1992) .......34, 36 -iv- Case 2:07-cv-00526-DME Document 83 Filed 08/07/09 Page 6 of 48 Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians v. Leavitt, 215 F. Supp. 2d 1232 (D. Utah 2002) ................................................................6 Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians v. Nielson, 376 F.3d 1223 (10th Cir. 2004) .............................................................. 2 Taubman Realty Group Ltd. P’ship v. Mineta, 320 F.3d 475 (4th Cir. 2003) .............................................................. 34 United States v. Mitchell, 463 U.S. 206 (1983) ..................................... 33 United States v. Navajo Nation, 537 U.S. 488 (2003) ................................ 29 Utah v. Dep’t of the Interior, 45 F. Supp. 2d 1279 (D. Utah 1999) ....................6, 24 Vt. Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 435 U.S. 519, 558 (1978) ................................................ 12, 13, 28 Webster v. United States, 823 F. Supp. 1544 (D. Mont. 1992) ...................... 21, 26 STATUTES 5 U.S.C. § 706.............................................................. 42 25 U.S.C. § 415.......................................................... passim 25 U.S.C. § 2802 ............................................................ 24 42 U.S.C. § 4332 ...................................................... 12, 13, 36 42 U.S.C. §§ 10101–10270 ..................................................... 3 43 U.S.C. § 1761 .......................................................... 3, 12 43 U.S.C. § 1764 .............................................................12 49 U.S.C. § 10901 ............................................................ 3 Pub. L. No. 109-163, 119 Stat. 3136 ............................................. 10 -v- Case 2:07-cv-00526-DME Document 83 Filed 08/07/09 Page 7 of 48 REGULATIONS 10 C.F.R. § 50 ...............................................................25 10 C.F.R. § 51 .............................................................