Northern Plains Resource Council v. Montana Board of Land Commissioners

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of a challenge to the Montana State Land Board’s decision to lease access to 1.2 billion tons of coal without first complying with the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), holding that the state’s lease of mineral interests to a coal company was not a major government action affecting the quality of the human environment as would trigger the requirement for the preparation of an environmental impact statement under MEPA.  In addition, the court held that a rational basis existed for the deferral of the EIS until there was a specific proposal to consider.