Thurston County Response to Chehalis Request for Judicial Notice of Federal Leasing Regs

Here:

Thurtson County Response to Motion for Judicial Notice

The motion is here.

Chehalis Asks Ninth Circuit to Take Judicial Notice of New Interior Regulations re: Taxability of Trust Land Improvements

Here is the motion in Confederated Chehalis Tribes v. Thurston County Board of Equalization:

Chehalis Motion to Take Judicial Notice

The federal regs are here. 25 CFR 162.017 reads:

Subject only to applicable Federal law, permanent improvements on the leased land, without regard to ownership of those improvements, are not subject to any fee, tax, assessment, levy or other charge imposed by any State or political subdivision of a  State. Improvements may be subject to taxation by the Indian tribe with jurisdiction.

Briefs are here. Lower court materials here.

Final Regulation on Leasing Approval Process

The regulation is part of the implementation of the HEARTH Act and updates regulations originally established in 1961.

Press Release here.

Final Rule here.

Fact Sheet here.

DOJ Issues New Eagle Feather Policy re: Tribal Members

Here. The full policy is here.

From the press release:

The policy provides that, consistent with the Department of Justice’s traditional exercise of its discretion, a member of a federally recognized tribe engaged only in the following types of conduct will not be subject to prosecution:

·          Possessing, using, wearing or carrying federally protected birds, bird feathers or other bird parts (federally protected bird parts);

·          Traveling domestically with federally protected bird parts or, if tribal members obtain and comply with necessary permits, traveling internationally with such items;

·          Picking up naturally molted or fallen feathers found in the wild, without molesting or disturbing federally protected birds or their nests;

·          Giving or loaning federally protected bird parts to other members of federally recognized tribes, without compensation of any kind;

·          Exchanging federally protected bird parts for federally protected bird parts with other members of federally recognized tribes, without compensation of any kind;

·          Providing the feathers or other parts of federally protected birds to craftspersons who are members of federally recognized tribes to be fashioned into objects for eventual use in tribal religious or cultural activities.

Absentee Shawnee/Okla. Seminole Challenge to HUD Funding Allocation Regulation Fails

Here are the materials in Absentee Shawnee Housing Authority v. HUD (W.D. Okla.):

DCT Order Rejecting Challenge to HUD Decision

Plaintiffs’ Brief

HUD Response

Plaintiffs’ Reply

Great Lakes NWF Report on Fracking in Michigan and Ohio

Here.

An excerpt from the website:

A new legal analysis by the National Wildlife Federation finds that laws in Michigan and Ohio need to be improved to protect the region’s streams, rivers, lakes, and wildlife from the risks of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” Energy companies use this controversial technique to extract natural gas from fine-grained shale, injecting a mix of water, chemicals, and sand into a well at high pressures to crack open the rock. The natural gas then flows out into the well and is captured aboveground.

Fracking has raised significant environmental concerns, including the potential for impacts on water quality and water-dependent natural resources.

“Our analysis shows that Michigan and Ohio are doing some things right, but the states remain vulnerable to risks associated with fracking,” said Sara Gosman, water resources attorney for the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes office and lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School. “We urge Michigan and Ohio to strengthen their laws to protect public health, wildlife and water resources now and for generations to come.”

Download the full report: Hydraulic Fracturing in the Great Lakes Basin: The State of Play in Michigan and Ohio

D.C. Circuit Affirms EPA Regulations on Greenhouse Gases

Here is today’s opinion in Coalition for Responsible Regulation v. EPA:

09-1322

Interior Office of Inspector General Follow-Up to 2003 Report on Tribal Per Capita Payments

In 2003, the OIG issued a report evaluating the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ process for approving tribal revenue allocation ordinances. A few days ago, the OIG issued a quick follow up to that report, determining whether and how the BIA responded to the OIG’s three recommendations. Here is that follow-up:

ER-VS-BIA-0001-2012Public

An excerpt:

Based on our review, we agree that BIA’s Office oflndian Gaming attempted to implement the first two recommendations but did not succeed due to resistance from tribal authorities and lack of enforcement capability. BIA concluded that it did not have the authority to force tribes to submit the additional financial information that would have been required to implement OIG’s first two recommendations. OIG agrees that there is no express authority in either applicable regulation or statute to require submittal of financial information from tribes to obtain approval for gaming Revenue Allocation Plans (RAPs). DOl and BIA could have, however, used their authority to deny RAPs to effectively compel requested financial information from tribes.

D.C. Circuit Strikes NRC Temporary Fuel Storage Rule (Prairie Island Indian Community Among Challengers)

Here is today’s opinion in State of New York v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and selected briefs:

CADC Opinion

Prairie Island and NY VT CT NJ Brief

NRC Brief

NY VT CT NJ & Prairie Island Reply Brief

 

Colville Suit against IHS over Declination of Emergency Medical Services Self-Governance Compact Increase

Here is the complaint in Confederated Colville Tribes v. Sebelius (D. Or.):

Colville Complaint