ELR Citation: ELR 21485
No(s). 96-1230 (10th Cir. Jun 30, 1997)

The court holds that the Secretary of the Interior must continue to process a mining company's patent application for mining lode claims to determine whether it is exempt from a statutory moratorium on expenditure of funds for processing patent applications. On September 30, 1994, Congress enacted the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act which contained this moratorium. The court first holds that the provision exempting certain patent applications from the moratorium is not ambiguous. Congress explicitly defined the content of the limited review permitted under the moratorium. Thus, the provision clearly requires the Secretary to determine eligibility of pending applications for first half final certificates (FHFCs)—that is, whether the application is complete in that the applicant has complied with all requirements for applying for a patent.

The court next holds that the Secretary's interpretation of the moratorium exemption is contrary to the language of the moratorium. Under the Secretary's interpretation, only applications for which an FHFC was signed before October 1, 1994, and those for which an FHFC was pending in Washington, D.C., as of September 30, 1994, may be processed. The Secretary bases an applicant's exemption eligibility on how far the Secretary has processed the application rather than on the applicant's actions. However, the Secretary's distinction based on the physical location of the application package is unreasonable and impermissible in light of the statute's focus on the applicant's compliance as the determining factor for eligibility for the exemption. Because the statute is unambiguous, the court refuses to consider the legislative history offered by the Secretary as a justification for his interpretation of the moratorium statute. While the Secretary is free to choose the mechanism of his choice to determine exemption eligibility, he may not select a mechanism that changes the standard for qualifying for the moratorium exemption.

Counsel for Plaintiff
Stephen D. Alfers
Alfers & Carver
Equitable Bldg.
730 17th St., Ste. 340, Denver CO 80202
(303) 592-7674

Counsel for Defendants
Robert H. Oakley
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

Before Ebel and Henry, JJ.