Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Department of the Interior
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
623 F.3d 633 (9th Cir. 2010)
Mining company Asarco proposed exchanging private land for public land held by the BLM (defendant) to expand its Arizona mining operations, and the BLM's environmental impact statement concluded mining would occur on the land under all alternatives including a no-action alternative, reasoning the exchange itself made no meaningful environmental difference; the BLM's Record of Decision listed only advantages to the exchange and concluded the public interest wouldn't be harmed because mining would proceed identically regardless of ownership. Conservation groups (plaintiffs) sued, and the district court granted the BLM summary judgment, upholding the exchange; the plaintiffs appealed.
Whether an agency violates NEPA and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act by authorizing a land exchange without meaningfully comparing the environmental consequences of public versus private ownership, and by assuming without support that a proposed land exchange serves the public interest.