On May 5, 2023, the NAM filed an amicus brief urging the 9th Circuit to affirm a lower court decision rejecting a challenge to the Bureau of Land Management’s approval of a lithium mine in Thacker Pass, Nevada. Critical minerals such as lithium play an important role in manufacturing, providing crucial inputs needed to make electric vehicles, batteries, computers and a wide range of other products. In this case, the plaintiffs -- environmental groups, Nevada ranchers and tribes -- maintain that BLM’s approval of the mining project violates the Administrative Procedure Act because of BLM’s alleged failure to comply with three federal statutes prior to approving the Project (the National Environmental Policy Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the National Historic Preservation Act). The district court broadly rejected the plaintiffs’ claims, except for their challenge to the portions of BLM’s approval authorizing the mining company to occupy federal land with mining waste rock without first determining that valuable minerals are deposited there, as required by 9th Circuit precedent. The district court remanded that aspect of BLM’s approval to BLM concluding that the agency can fix the error.
We argued in our brief that reduced domestic production of critical minerals, such as lithium, that are the building blocks of many technologies would hamper the global economy, undermine national security and produce worse environmental and worker safety outcomes. We further argue that remand to BLM to fix its error is the appropriate remedy to ensure the mining project keeps moving forward.
Happily, on July 17, 2023, the 9th Circuit affirmed the district court's decision.