Montana Environmental Information Center v. Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Golden Sunlight Mines, Inc.; Jefferson County, Intervenor

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed a district court judgment upholding the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s approval of Golden Sunlight Mines’ North Area Pit expansion and selection of the Agency-Modified reclamation alternative. The Court held that the Montana Environmental Information Center was collaterally estopped from relitigating whether the Montana Constitution and the Montana Metal Mine Reclamation Act require full reclamation of lands disturbed by mining. The Court also affirmed that the agency’s decision satisfied the applicable statutory criteria.

Holdings

1. Collateral estoppel barred MEIC from relitigating whether Article IX, Section 2 of the Montana Constitution requires land disturbed by the taking of natural resources to be restored to its previous condition.
2. Collateral estoppel also barred MEIC from relitigating whether the Montana Metal Mine Reclamation Act requires land disturbed by mining to be fully reclaimed to its previous condition.
3. The DEQ made a reasoned decision in selecting the Agency-Modified Alternative, and its decision was not arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, or unsupported by substantial evidence.

Questions Presented

1. Whether MEIC was precluded by collateral estoppel from relitigating whether Article IX, Section 2 of the Montana Constitution requires land disturbed by the taking of natural resources to be fully reclaimed to its previous condition.
2. Whether MEIC was precluded by collateral estoppel from relitigating whether the Montana Metal Mine Reclamation Act requires land disturbed by the taking of natural resources to be fully reclaimed to its previous condition.
3. Whether the DEQ made a reasoned decision, supported by the MMRA criteria and substantial evidence, in selecting the Agency-Modified reclamation alternative.

Disposition

affirmed