California Coastal Commission v. Granite Rock Co.

Granite Rock (plaintiff) held Forest Service-approved unpatented mining claims in a national forest and challenged California's requirement that it obtain a coastal-zone mining permit from the state Coastal Commission (defendant), arguing federal land-use statutes and Forest Service regulations preempted the state permit requirement. Granite never actually applied for the permit, so no specific conditions had been imposed; the district court dismissed Granite's claim, the Ninth Circuit reversed finding preemption, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.