Black Mesa Water Coalition v. Sally Jewell

Black Mesa Water Coalition, et al. (Black Mesa), a group of environmental and community organizations, sought costs and expenses, including attorney’s and expert witness fees, from the Federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) after Black Mesa participated in a successful challenge to OSM’s grant of a coal mining permit revision. An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) denied Black Mesa’s fee request, and the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) affirmed. Upon review, the district court affirmed the agency’s final decision. Black Mesa appeals the district court’s decision. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We reverse in part, vacate in part, and remand to the district court with instructions to remand to the agency for further proceedings on the question of “entitlement.”

I

Black Mesa, Kendall Nutumya, and others challenged a coal mining permit revision that OSM granted to Peabody Western Coal Company (Peabody) for coal mining operations in northeastern Arizona. The ALJ consolidated ten separate challenges to the permit revision, including Black Mesa’s and Nutumya’s, because “they involve[d] common questions of law or fact.” See 43 C.F.R.…