ELR Citation: ELR 20247
No(s). 1182-73 (D.D.C. Feb 14, 1974)

The court grants summary judgment against plaintiffs seeking to enjoin any further action by the federal government affecting coal development in the Northern Great Plains region pending completion of a regionwide environmental impact statement, systematic interdisciplinary studies, and examination of alternatives under §§102(2)(A), (C), and (D) of NEPA. The court rules that there is no existing or proposed regional program or plan of federal action for coal development in the Northern Great Plains. Multiple unrelated applications for federal action regarding coal leases in a multistate area do not constitute such a program, and the Northern Great Plains Resource Program currently being conducted by the Department of the Interior is a study project rather than a program for development. In the absence of such a regional program, a regionwide EIS, interdisciplinary study, and examination of alternatives are not required by NEPA. The court points out that even if there were a regional program, the Act would not prohibit federal action on an individual coal leasing project within the region for which an EIS had been prepared prior to the program's implementation. The court also notes that the Interior Department is already preparing an EIS for the entire federal coal leasing program that will deal extensively with the Northern Great Plains area.

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Bruce J. Terris
Suellen T. Keiner
1908 Sunderland Place, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Counsel for Federal Defendants
Herbert Tittle
Department of Justice
Washington, DC 20530

Counsel for Intervenor-Defendants
Richard T. Conway
Francis H. Shea
Shea & Gardner
734 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005

Richard Schwartz
1666 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006