Appeals court revives lawsuit against BLM

Thursday, Sept. 13, 2001 | 9:03 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- For the second time in as many weeks a Las Vegas man has scored a victory in his fight over air quality issues in Southern Nevada.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday ruled that Robert Hall should be allowed to pursue his suit in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. The appeals court said the Bureau of Land Management did not do an adequate job in assessing the environmental impacts of turning over 4,975 acres of federal land in Las Vegas to the Del Webb Corp.

The Webb company exchanged environmentally sensitive lands in Northern Nevada for the Las Vegas federal property and planned 11,200 homes on the land. Webb has already built on the property.

Hall, a constant critic of efforts to control air pollution in Southern Nevada, sued the BLM on grounds that it had violated the National Environmental Policy Act.

U.S. District Judge Lloyd George had granted a pre-trial summary judgment in favor of the federal agency, ruling in part that Hall lacked standing to bring the suit. George said Hall failed to present specific facts in his suit that he would be harmed by the exchange of these particular lands.

But the appeals court, in an opinion written by Judge Richard Paez, said Hall showed he had a "sufficient stake" in the outcome of the transfer of the land. Hall maintains he has respiratory problems that have been aggravated by the dirty air coming out of prior BLM land exchanges in Southern Nevada.

The court said the suit by Hall "attempts to force the BLM to consider more seriously the air pollution consequences of all the land disposals it is contemplating in Southern Nevada.

"In sum, it is not unreasonable to infer that Hall will be affected by increased emissions attributable to the BLM's land exchange with Del Webb," wrote Paez.

George, in his Las Vegas ruling, backed the BLM, which contended that an environmental assessment shows the emissions from the Del Webb development "would not be significant, was not arbitrary and capricious."

The appeals court, however, said George failed to consider Hall's argument that the BLM was required to assess what would be the cumulative impacts in the disposal of all of its property in Southern Nevada.

In sending the case back to District Court in Las Vegas, the 9th Circuit said Hall's assertion regarding the BLM's "failure to adequately consider the increased pollution that will result from the land exchange" is an injury that falls within the zone of interests protected by the National Environmental Policy Act."

The circuit court upheld George in his ruling that part of the suit was filed in the wrong court and that Hall was not entitled to discovery.

In August the appeals court, in an opinion also written by Paez, ruled the EPA failed to do a thorough examination in accepting air pollution rule changes for Southern Nevada. The decision on the Hall suit did not infer that the air regulations were invalid but only that the EPA should take a closer look at the rules governing the review of new sources of pollution throughout Clark County.