Supreme Court Miniseries: Tribal Rights in the 21st Century
DE Talk | Building Foundational Relationships in Native American & Tribal Communities
Proof in Trial: Appellate Edition: Stand Up for California et al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al.
Tribal Tax Exemption Under McGirt Gains Preliminary Victory
McGirt Uncertainty Extends to Federal Environmental Regulations in Indian Country
Revisiting McGirt: New Legal Developments Challenge Oklahoma’s Landmark Ruling
The Immediate and Lasting Impacts of McGirt: A Novel Ruling for Oklahoma
A Way Forward: Energy Industry Ready to Fuel Canada's Recovery
This series has surveyed a breadth of permitting reform issues, most recently regarding tribal consultation within the United States. International mineral development permitting in or near areas of indigenous cultural and...more
FERC issued a final rule on March 18 amending its regulations to establish a one-year period for state agencies or other certifying authorities to act on requests for water quality certifications required for a certificate of...more
It’s been a difficult several days for the oil industry. First, the Biden administration revoked the border-crossing permit for the Keystone XL pipeline on January 20. Another executive order, among other things, directed the...more
As the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden took significant steps on his first day in office to advance the energy and climate initiatives of his administration. This LawFlash provides a brief summary of several...more
It is rare for the holding in a single criminal case to have such far-reaching implications that it affects nearly every industry in a particular state. But that is what happened on July 9, 2020, when the United States...more
On July 9, 2020, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in McGirt v. Oklahoma, ruling that most of the eastern half of Oklahoma is an Indian reservation. While the decision ostensibly resolves a jurisdictional challenge to a...more
N. Plains Res. Council v. United States Army Corps of Eng’rs, No. 4:19-cv-00044-BMM, 2020 BL 35412 (9th Cir. May 14, 2020) - Oil and gas pipeline construction may no longer proceed under Nationwide Water Permit 12 (“NWP...more
With storage pressure and pandemic-reduced demand driving oil prices into freefall, lessees of federal and Indian lands may consider turning to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) procedures...more
People in the United States who wonder how far pipeline protests can go, and how disruptive they can be, need only look north to Canada. As this article is written, much of the national Canadian rail system has been shut down...more
Below are brief summaries of the agenda items for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's October 17, 2019 meeting, pursuant to the agenda as issued on October 10, 2019. Agenda items E-5, E-15, and E-23 have not been...more
On August 8, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule to update regulations implementing Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The rule was proposed in response to President Trump’s...more
Trump Signs Orders to Speed Up Oil and Gas Pipeline Construction - "President Trump signed two executive orders that he says will speed up construction of pipelines and other projects to enhance the production and...more
Assistant Secretary Tara Sweeney joined the Department of the Interior a few weeks ago and inherited a tribal agenda that has sent shockwaves through tribal communities. In the first days of his administration, President...more
On March 8, 2018, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation (the "Tribe") filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the United States, the Department of the...more
Court decisions can often provide learning opportunities — they establish legal principles, apply those principles to certain facts, and illustrate relative trends, or stability, in the law. The recent decision of the B.C....more
In the summer of 2015, I stood along a rural highway in Caddo County, Oklahoma, with a young Kiowa allottee. He showed me the allotment that had been in his family for generations — ever since Congress, with the endorsement...more
Lawsuit challenges President’s authority to shrink Bears Ears National Monument - The Salt Lake Tribune - Dec 7 A coalition of American Indian tribes, recreation interests including the outdoor clothing manufacturer...more
Congress returned from the Thanksgiving holiday with an intense workload that must be completed by the end of the year. Tax reform remains a focus, and the Republican-controlled Congress is still committed to getting a final...more
At this point in the Obama administration eight years ago, Secretary Ken Salazar was clear on his commitment to restoring tribal homelands. Embracing his trust and treaty responsibilities, Secretary Salazar left no ambiguity...more
Despite a stronger global economic outlook than we’ve seen in years, the world’s central bankers appear loath to let go of stimulus measures while lower-than-expected inflation bedevils them....more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Office of Energy Projects, recently issued its Guidelines for Reporting on Cultural Resources Investigations for Natural Gas Projects (Guidelines)....more
On May 9, we released a public summary of our report “Good Practice for Managing the Social Impacts of Oil Pipelines in the United States.” The independent report was prepared by Amy Lehr, Cicely Parseghian, and Gare...more
Eddie Lampert’s Sears mega-gamble appears to finally be catching up with him. Or the store, at least. Mr. Lampert, it seems, will come out not as worse for the wear as one might have expected....more
In a demonstration that not all regulations solve the problems they were intended to, and a testament to the power of market conditions, owners of the controversial Navajo Generating Station (NGS) power plant near Lake Powell...more
In the initial week of the Trump Administration, a lot has happened and more changes are planned. Here are the highlights from Week One: Confirmation Hearings - Confirmation hearings were conducted for Scott Pruitt...more