Opinion ID: 331837
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Approval of Leases as Major Federal Action.

Text: 30 To succeed in their first claim the appellants must not only establish their standing to sue and surmount the defense of laches but also establish that the approval by the Secretary of Interior of coal leases covering 30,876 acres of land constituted 'major federal action' within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 4332(a)(C). The lower court avoided reaching this issue. This was error. We are persuaded by Davis v. Morton, 469 F.2d 593 (10th Cir. 1972) that the approval in this case was 'major federal action' which requires the preparation of an EIS that satisfies the mandate of NEPA. Neither the status of Indians nor the manner in which their lands are held in trust justifies removing from the 'major federal action' category the 1972 approval of the leases in this case. 31 Inasmuch as no EIS was prepared until 1973 and its coverage was limited to the 770 acres embraced in the mining plan, it becomes necessary to determine whether this EIS satisfies the mandate of NEPA with respect to the Secretary's approval of the leases. The heart of the appellant's second claim is that it does not. To this issue we now turn. 32