ELR Citation: 49 ELR 20034
No(s). 4:18-cv-00159-DC (D. Idaho Feb 25, 2019) (Nye, J.)

A district court denied BLM's and the U.S. Forest Service's motion to dismiss a challenge by a cattle rancher for failing to submit land use plan amendments to protect the greater sage-grouse to Congress for review. The rancher, which operates on lands affected by the agencies' amendments, argued that BLM and the U.S. Forest Service violated the Congressional Review Act because they failed to submit the amendments to Congress for review as required by the Act. The agencies asserted the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the rancher's claim because the Act prohibited judicial review of claimed omissions in violation of the Act. The court found that those who promulgated the Act understood that actions taken by certain actors would not be reviewable, but that this non-reviewability did not extend to all actors and that specifically agency action would be reviewable. The court thus denied the agencies' motion to dismiss.