KRC Files Amicus Brief in Stearns Takings Case

In a pending federal court case that has a broader potential to undercut the 1977 federal mining law's protection of national forest lands from mining, the Georgetown Environmental Law and Policy Institute (GELPI) filed a "friend of the court" (amicus curiae) brief on behalf of the Kentucky Resources Council. The case is Stearns Co., LTD v. the United States, and it is before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

 

In the brief, GELPI Executive Director and renowned takings jurisprudence expert John Echeverria argues on KRC's behalf that the U.S. Court of Claims violated takings law principles and erred in concluding that Stearns suffered a "taking" of their mineral rights under the Daniel Boone National Forest from the mere requirement that, as a result of the adoption of the 1977 Surface Mining Act, the company would have to demonstrate that it either had valid existing rights of conduct mining on the federal lands or that the mining would be compatible with the protection of the use and values of the national forest.

 

To learn more about the Georgetown Environmental Law and Policy Institute, go to www.law.georgetown.edu/gelpi/ .

 

To read the brief, in pdf format, go to http://www.law.georgetown.edu/gelpi/takings/courts/briefs/stearnsamicus.pdf