ELR Citation: 50 ELR 20238
No(s). 4:20-cv-00062-BMM (D. Mont. Oct 16, 2020) (Morris, J.)

A district court invalidated three resource management plans that were approved by BLM's acting director because he was not authorized to approve them. The governor of Montana and the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation argued that the plans should be set aside because the court had previously ruled that the person who approved them, William Perry Pendley, was unlawfully serving as the acting director in violation of the Appointments Clause, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, and the APA. The court found that Pendley exercised the BLM director's exclusive authority when he approved the three plans, and therefore held that they should be set aside.