Blm

MEMORANDUM

The Summit Lake Paiute Tribe (the Tribe) filed a Petition for Review challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) decision to amend the rights of way and temporary use permits granted to Ruby Pipeline, L.L.C. (“Ruby”). That decision re-routed a four-mile segment of the pipeline, shifting it roughly one half mile north of its original route.

1. Mootness:

Ruby and BLM argue that, because the construction of the pipeline is now complete, the Tribe’s National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act challenges are moot. In determining mootness, “the question is not whether the precise relief sought ... is still available. The question is whether there can be any effective relief.” Nw. Envtl. Def. Ctr. v. Gordon, 849 F.2d 1241, 1244-45 (9th Cir.1988) (quoting Garcia v. Lawn, 805 F.2d 1400, 1403 (9th Cir.1986)); see also Neighbors of Cuddy Mountain v. Alexander, 303 F.3d 1059, 1065 (9th Cir. 2002).

The majority of the harm the Tribe sought to avoid in this case stemmed from the construction of the pipeline. At oral argument, Petitioners stated that they are not seeking to have the pipeline moved, as digging it up and burying it again would only…