ELR Citation: 51 ELR 20072
No(s). A18-1952, A18-1953, A18-1958, A18-1959, A18-1960, and A18-1961 (Minn. Apr 28, 2021)

The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court ruling reversing a permit to mine and dam-safety permits for a copper-nickel mine in Minnesota. Environmental groups and a Native American tribe challenged the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' (MDNR's) issuance of the permits and its denial of their contested case petitions. The lower court reversed MDNR's decision to grant the permit to mine, remanded to MDNR to hold a contested case hearing, and reversed its decision to issue the dam-safety permits to allow for reconsideration of them after the contested case hearing. The high court found the lower court adopted an incorrect legal standard to evaluate MDNR's decision denying the petitions for a hearing, and concluded that the Department did not abuse its discretion in denying the petitions because substantial evidence supported those decisions. It further found the lower court correctly reversed the decision to grant the permit to mine because MDNR erred by issuing it without an appropriate fixed term, but that the court erred in reversing the dam-safety permits. The high court therefore affirmed in part and reversed in part the lower court's ruling and remanded to MDNR to conduct the contested case hearing and to determine and fix the appropriate definite term for the permit to mine.