HYDRO RESOURCES, INC. v. U.S. E.P.A.

No. 07-9506.

608 F.3d 1131 (2010)

HYDRO RESOURCES, INC., Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, Respondent, and Navajo Nation, Intervenor. State of New Mexico; National Mining Association; United Nuclear Corporation; State of Colorado; State of Kansas; State of Utah; State of Wyoming; the Pueblo of Santa Clara; the Pueblo of Sandia; the Pueblo of Isleta; and the Pueblo of Zia, Amici Curiae.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

June 15, 2010.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Marc D. Flink (Alfred C. Chidester and Casie D. Collignon, Baker & Hostetler LLP, Denver, CO, and Jon J. Indall, Comeau, Maldegen, Templeman & Indall, LLP, Santa Fe, NM, with him on the briefs) Baker & Hostetler LLP, Denver, CO, for Petitioner.

David A. Carson (Ronald J. Tenpas, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General, and John C. Cruden, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, with him on the briefs), United States Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Denver, CO, for Respondent.

Paul E. Frye (Louis Denetsosie, Attorney General, and David A. Taylor, Navajo Nation Department of Justice, Window Rock, AZ, and Jill E. Grant, Nordhaus Law Firm, LLP, Washington, D.C., with him on the briefs), Frye Law Firm, P.C., Albuquerque, NM, for Intervenor.

Gary K. King, Attorney General, and Christopher D. Coppin, Special Assistant Attorney General, Albuquerque, NM, and Justin Miller, Chief Counsel, Office of the Governor, Santa Fe, NM, filed an Amicus Curiae brief for the States of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

Anthony J. Thompson and Christopher S. Pugsley, Thompson & Simmons, PLLC, Washington, D.C., filed an Amicus Curiae brief for National Mining Association in support of Petitioner.

Robert W. Lawrence, Jonathan W. Rauchway and Constance L. Rogers, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, Denver, CO, filed an Amicus Curiae brief for United Nuclear Corporation in support of Petition for Rehearing en banc and in support of reversal.

Gary K. King, Attorney General, and Christopher D. Coppin, Special Assistant Attorney General, Albuquerque, NM; Justin Miller, Chief Counsel, Office of the Governor, Santa Fe, NM; Mark L. Shurtleff, Utah Attorney General, Salt Lake City, UT; Steve Six, Attorney General of Kansas, Topeka, Kansas; John W. Suthers, Attorney General of Colorado, Denver, CO; and Bruce A. Salzburg, Attorney General of Wyoming, Cheyenne, Wyoming, filed an Amicus Curiae brief for the States of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming in support of Petitioner.

Richard W. Hughes, Rothstein, Donatelli, Hughes, Dahlstrom, Schoenburg & Bienvenu, LLP, Santa Fe, NM, and David C. Mielke, Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Mielke & Brownell, Albuquerque, NM, filed an Amici Curiae brief for Pueblos of Santa Clara, Sandia, Isleta and Zia in support of Respondent.

GORSUCH, Circuit Judge, joined by TACHA, KELLY, O'BRIEN, TYMKOVICH, and HOLMES, Circuit Judges.


Everyone agrees that Hydro Resources, Inc. ("HRI") must obtain a Safe Drinking Water Act ("SDWA" or "the Act") permit to mine its property. The only question is: from whom? The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA" or the "Agency"), which administers the Act, has chosen to delegate its permitting authority in the State of New Mexico to the New Mexico Environment Department ("NMED"), but with one exception: EPA has not delegated its authority to issue permits for mining activities...

Let's get started

Leagle.com

Welcome to the leading source of independent legal reporting
Sign on now to see your case.
Or view more than 10 million decisions and orders.

  • Updated daily.
  • Uncompromising quality.
  • Complete, Accurate, Current.

Listed below are the cases that are cited in this Featured Case. Click the citation to see the full text of the cited case. Citations are also linked in the body of the Featured Case.

Cited Cases

  • No Cases Found

Listed below are those cases in which this Featured Case is cited. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case.

Citing Cases