Introduction: On June 14, 2017, U.S. District Court Judge Boasberg issued a lengthy Memorandum Opinion granting in part the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s (Standing Rock) and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s (Cheyenne River) Motions for Summary Judgment.1 The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project…

On June 10, 2016, Congress passed the Indian Trust Asset Reform Act (ITARA), and on June 22, 2016, President Barack Obama signed it into law.1 According to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the purpose of the Act “is to reaffirm the…

Introduction: President Trump’s recent executive orders and ongoing commitment to regulatory reform are finding complimentary provisions in the form of a number of bills being considered in Congress. One of those bills, the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017,1 includes a provision that…

As noted in a previous update,1 on January 6, 2015 the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resource Revenue (ONRR) announced a proposed rulemaking amending its regulations governing valuation, for royalty purposes, of oil and gas produced from Federal onshore…

On February 22, 2017, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision finding that the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, established by, as relevant here, an 1896 treaty, was diminished by a 1905 Act of Congress in which the Eastern Shoshone…

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project continues to be the subject of extensive news coverage and ongoing controversy. Last quarter’s Watch discussed U.S. District Judge Boasberg’s memorandum opinion denying the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction, which was immediately followed…

On March 6, 2017, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California rejected a challenge to a wind project in southeastern San Diego County, with known potential impacts to golden eagles.1 The project consisted of two phases, Phase I which…

Since it was enacted, the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Act of 1996, better known as the Congressional Review Act,[1. 5 U.S.C. §§ 801-808.] has been rarely used and certainly has not been the topic of headlines or water-cooler conversations. That has changed…

By Brian Nichols, as published in Litigation: The Journal of the Section of Litigation, published by the American Bar Association, Winter 2017.

On June 10 2016, Congress passed the Native American Trust Asset Reform Act  and on June 22, 2016, President Obama signed it into law.[1. 25 U.S.C. § 5601.] According to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the purpose of the Act “is…