Rocky Mountain Oil & Gas Ass'n v. United States Forest Service

MEMORANDUM *

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (“IPAA”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Forest Service. IPAA challenges the Forest Service’s decision not to offer particular lands within the Lewis & Clark National Forest for oil and gas leasing, asserting claims under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. 4321-4370e (1994 & Supp. IV 1998), National Forest Management Act (“NFMA”), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1600 , 1611-1614 (1994), Multiple-Use Sustained *500 Yield Act (“MUSYA”), 16 U.S.C. §§ 528-531 (1994) and the Establishment Clause. The district court decided in favor of the Forest Service, holding that IPAA lacked standing to sue, and that it failed to establish that the Forest Service’s decision was arbitrary, capricious or in violation of any law. We affirm on the basis that IPAA lacks standing to bring its NEPA, NFMA and MUSYA claims, all of which are brought under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. § 706 (1994), and that its Establishment Clause claim lacked merit.

IPAA lacks Article III standing for its NEPA, NFMA and MUSYA claims because the Forest Service has discretion whether to…