Opinion ID: 202936
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Finality of Lease Approval

Text: Plaintiffs ask us to forego review of the standing and ripeness issues and instead remand the case to the district court based on the BIA's reversal of position regarding the finality of its lease approval. Plaintiffs claim that the BIA argued before the district court that lease approval was limited to site investigation and was revocable upon further review by the BIA, and that the district court relied heavily on these representations. On appeal, the BIA concedes that its lease approval is final. It argues instead  but to the same effect  that implementation of the lease is contingent upon multiple factors, including FERC authorization, and that therefore Plaintiffs' alleged injuries resulting from construction of the LNG terminal are too attenuated to satisfy standing and ripeness requirements. Because we review the standing and ripeness issues de novo, and because we have all the information we need to decide these issues, we see no reason to remand. We approach the standing and ripeness issues assuming  as everyone agrees  that the BIA has completed its lease approval process and will not have another opportunity to review the lease. For purposes of our review, we also assume, as alleged by Plaintiffs, that the BIA has failed to meet its federal obligations with respect to the lease approval. Whether or not this is true is a question on the merits of Plaintiffs' case, which we need not address at this stage of the proceedings. [9]