United States Tenth Circuit

In a petition for review of the EPA's "final land status determination" expressing its judgment that petitioner's land qualified as "Indian land," the petition is granted where the EPA's interpretation cannot be reconciled with the Supreme Court's explanation of 18 U.S.C. section 1151(b)'s plain meaning.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/15/2010
• Published 06/15/2010

Judges

• GORSUCH, Circuit Judge, joined by TACHA, KELLY, O'BRIEN, TYMKOVICH, and HOLMES, Circuit Judges., Before BRISCOE, Chief Judge, EBEL, TACHA, KELLY, HENRY, LUCERO, MURPHY, O'BRIEN, TYMKOVICH, GORSUCH, and HOLMES, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Marc D. Flink (Alfred C. Chidester and Casie D. Collignon, Baker & Hostetler LLP, Denver, CO, and Jon J. Indall, Comeau, Maldegen, Templeman & Indall, LLP, Santa Fe, NM, with him on the briefs) Baker & Hostetler LLP, Denver, CO, for Petitioner., Paul E. Frye (Louis Denetsosie, Attorney General, and David A. Taylor, Navajo Nation Department of Justice, Window Rock, AZ, and Jill E. Grant, Nordhaus Law Firm, LLP, Washington, D.C., with him on the briefs), Frye Law Firm, P.C., Albuquerque, NM, for Intervenor., Gary K. King, Attorney General, and Christopher D. Coppin, Special Assistant Attorney General, Albuquerque, NM, and Justin Miller, Chief Counsel, Office of the Governor, Santa Fe, NM, filed an Amicus Curiae brief for the States of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming., Anthony J. Thompson and Christopher S. Pugsley, Thompson & Simmons, PLLC, Washington, D.C., filed an Amicus Curiae brief for National Mining Association in support of Petitioner., Robert W. Lawrence, Jonathan W. Rauchway and Constance L. Rogers, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, Denver, CO, filed an Amicus Curiae brief for United Nuclear Corporation in support of Petition for Rehearing en banc and in support of reversal., Gary K. King, Attorney General, and Christopher D. Coppin, Special Assistant Attorney General, Albuquerque, NM; Justin Miller, Chief Counsel, Office of the Governor, Santa Fe, NM; Mark L. Shurtleff, Utah Attorney General, Salt Lake City, UT; Steve Six, Attorney General of Kansas, Topeka, Kansas; John W. Suthers, Attorney General of Colorado, Denver, CO; and Bruce A. Salzburg, Attorney General of Wyoming, Cheyenne, Wyoming, filed an Amicus Curiae brief for the States of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming in support of Petitioner.


• For Appellees:
  
• David A. Carson (Ronald J. Tenpas, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General, and John C. Cruden, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, with him on the briefs), United States Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Denver, CO, for Respondent., Richard W. Hughes, Rothstein, Donatelli, Hughes, Dahlstrom, Schoenburg & Bienvenu, LLP, Santa Fe, NM, and David C. Mielke, Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Mielke & Brownell, Albuquerque, NM, filed an Amici Curiae brief for Pueblos of Santa Clara, Sandia, Isleta and Zia in support of Respondent.