Bennett Hills Grazing Association v. United States of America

ORDER

The government appeals from the district court’s order enjoining the Bureau of Land Management from proceeding with the preparation of a final environmental impact statement until plaintiffs have had ninety (90) days in which to comment on the Bureau’s draft statement. We have expedited the appeal on the government’s emergency motion.

The Supreme Court in Kleppe v. Sierra Club, 427 U.S. 390, 406 , 96 S.Ct. 2718 , 49 L.Ed.2d 576 (1976) and Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 435 U.S. 519, 525 , 98 S.Ct. 1197 , 55 L.Ed.2d 460 (1978) counseled the courts not to interfere with an agency’s proceedings before the agency renders its decision. The Bureau of Land Management solicited comments on the draft statement in accordance with the time schedule suggested by the applicable regulation, 40 C.F.R. § 1500.9 (f). The BLM time limitations were deemed necessary to permit the BLM to comply with the order of the District Court for the District Court of Columbia in Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Andrus, 448 F.Supp. 802 (1978). See also Natural Resources Defense Council Inc. v. Morton, 388 F.Supp. 829 (D.D.C.1974), aff’d 174…