ELR Citation: 50 ELR 20094
No(s). CV-18-110-GF-BMM (D. Mont. Apr 15, 2020) (Morris, J.)

A district court denied summary judgment to an environmental group in a lawsuit concerning the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA's) obligations under the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) to inspect all pipelines on federal lands annually. The group argued the agency failed to act on the MLA obligations, in violation of §706(1) of the APA, and thus sought to compel it to perform the inspections. PHMSA countered that the group was actually challenging the adequacy of its pipeline regulations and thus that it could only challenge the agency's final action as arbitrary or capricious under APA §706(2). The court agreed, finding that the group effectively challenged the scope and details of PHMSA's regulations, and thus that the appropriate challenge to whether the agency had fulfilled its statutory duties fell under §706(2) of the APA rather than §706(1). Because the court "reluctantly" concluded that it could not compel agency action as being unlawfully withheld under §706(1) under the circumstances presented, it denied the group's motion for summary judgment and granted PHMSA's cross-motion.