Here are the materials in White Earth Nation v. Kerry (D. Minn.):
90 Enbridge Motion for Summary J
Complaint here.
Environmental
Maine’s Second Amended Complaint in State v. McCarthy
Doc. 30- Second Amended Complaint
Previous Turtle Talk coverage here.
Maine is suing the EPA over agency action concerning the State’s surface water quality standards.
President’s Memo Outlines New Environmental Policy
Link to Memorandum here.
The Obama Administration advised the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Defense, EPA, and NOAA to avoid harming the environment by ensuring, at minimum, a “no net loss goal” for natural resources deemed important, scarce, or sensitive. The Departments will forgo development of resources deemed “irreplaceable.”
The new policy requires federal regulators to evaluate every proposed natural resource project from a large-scale context, including water-shed and landscape impacts. Going forward, the government’s policy will be to protect the environment by foreseeing and mitigating any damage ahead of time. The Departments have been given a time table for finalizing mitigation mechanisms and guidance.
This is the latest episode in a controversy over energy developments in Indian Country. Republicans in Congress are attempting to enact a law that would speed up energy development on Tribal lands after a GAO report criticized the 2005 federal process for transferring management of energy development to Tribes that has not resulted in any agreements (TERAs).
Seattle U. School of Law Field Trip to the Elwha River
Here are some pictures from Sunday’s Seattle U. field trip to view the progress of the Elwha River’s restoration. The trip was led by Robert Elofson, Director of the River Restoration Project for the Lower Elwha Tribe. It was part of a class on the restoration of the River after the removal of the two dams, which is taught by Professors Catherine O’Neill and Eric Eberhard. What lucky students to have the chance to examine the mechanics of a tribal triumph like this one and then to see the on-the-ground evidence firsthand!
Moapa Paiute Settlement Closes Coal Power Plant
Materials in The Moapa Band of Paiute Indians v. Nevada Power:
No. 114 – Order Granting Joint Motion to Approve Settlement
The settlement includes $4.3 million to the Tribe and requires defendants to shutdown the last Reid Gardner Plant by 2018. Four power stations had been running since the 60s to power the Las Vegas Valley, but were considered the dirtiest in the country and fined heavily by regulators for spewing coal ash dust. The last working plant is next to the Tribe’s reservation.
Alaska v. Organized Village of Kake Cert Petition (Roadless Rule)
Here:
Question presented:
The question presented is: whether the Ninth Circuit’s decision contravenes the basic administrative law principle, established by this Court’s decisions, that an executive agency may change the policies of a previous administration based on the new administration’s different values and priorities, even though the relevant facts are unchanged.
Squaxin Island Tribe Amicus Brief in State of Washington Water Resource Rule Appeal
Here is the brief in Hirst v. Whatcom County (Wash.):
Wyoming Federal Court Grants Ute Indian Tribe’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction Against BLM Fracking Rule
Order on Motions for Preliminary Injunctions here.
EPA Accepting Comments on Revised Interpretation of CWA Tribal Provisions
Link to Request for Comments here.
EPA proposes to conclude definitively that section 518 includes an express delegation of authority by Congress to eligible Indian tribes to administer regulatory programs over their entire reservations. This reinterpretation would eliminate the need for applicant tribes to demonstrate inherent authority to regulate under the Act, thus allowing tribes to implement the congressional delegation of authority unhindered by requirements not specified in the statute. The reinterpretation would also bring EPA’s treatment of tribes under the Clean Water Act in line with EPA’s treatment of tribes under the Clean Air Act, which has similar statutory language addressing tribal regulation of Indian reservation areas.
Comments must be submitted by October 6, 2015.
GLIFWC Publishes Report on Invasive Species in Anishinaabe Ceded Territories
Here is “Forest Invasives Regulatory Review:
Existing Regulations, Enforcement Strategies, Gathering Codes and Response Plans in the 1836, 1837, and 1842 Ojibwe Ceded Territories
” by
Steve Garske
and
Philomena Kebec.
Turtle Talk 
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