State Files Against EPA in U.S. District Court, Calling Out Unlawful Order on State Land in Bristol Bay

April 11, 2024

(Anchorage, AK) - Today, the State of Alaska asked the U.S. District Court in Alaska to find the Environmental Protection Agency's order on State land in Bristol Bay unlawful. The order prohibits and restricts development of State land on 309 square miles in southwestern Alaska with overbroad and unsupported prohibitions.

"The Alaska Constitution requires that the State manage its resources for the maximum benefit of its people, and reliance on our natural resources is the cornerstone of Alaska's statehood promise. Yet, the federal government would turn these State lands-these lands conveyed to us specifically because of their mineral value-into a de facto national park," said Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy.

In the filing of this complaint, the State is protecting its interests as the landowner from unlawful federal actions, including being dispossessed of its right to manage its own property.

"For the federal government to preemptively block any development on State lands in such a giant swath-200,000 acres--is a blatant affront to the sovereignty of Alaska and ignores our State's many laws and regulatory programs that protect anadromous fish and other natural resources," said Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor.

"The State of Alaska has a constitutional responsibility to sustainably manage our natural resources. Towards this end, Alaska has a history of responsible resource development based on a robust permitting process. It is disrespectful for the federal government to preempt this process and yet again supplant the state process with its own. It is yet another slap to our State sovereignty and statehood compact," said ADF&G Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang

"The Department of Natural Resources and our agency partners in the State of Alaska government have robust permitting, regulatory, and monitoring processes in place to ensure responsible development of Alaska's natural resources, as mandated by the state constitution and DNR's mission," said DNR Commissioner John Boyle. "The EPA's decision unilaterally prohibiting development on State land - land that was specifically granted to the State of Alaska for its mining potential while setting aside other areas of Bristol Bay for conservation - is an injurious act towards Alaskans and must be corrected by the judicial system."

The largest undeveloped copper deposit in the world was discovered on the lands the State received in a Land Exchange. Known as the Pebble Deposit, the State's lands contain more than 57 billionpounds of copper, in addition to enormous quantities of gold, silver, and rare earth elements necessary to power developing energy sectors.

The State is not endorsing any specific mining project and has not completed State-required permitting decisions for the mining company's proposal. The State believes that a development proposal should be allowed to complete the State and federal permitting process and not be unilaterally shut down by one federal agency before these regulatory processes perform their functions. That permitting work was ongoing when EPA prematurely vetoed any mining in an area much larger than the footprint of the proposed mine.

When the United States tied up 309 square miles of State land in Bristol Bay with new regulations, it broke its contract with the State, violating the Cook Inlet Land Exchange of 1976 and violating the Statehood Act of 1953. In March, the State filed a complaint in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims asking for damages for its confiscated lands. The State estimates the value of the taken land at more than $700 billion. This amount may be among the highest sought in the Court of Federal Claims.

Last July, the State asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear this case and order the EPA to correct its circumvention of a federal permitting process. The Court denied that request, necessitating the filing of the two recent actions. Either of these new cases may be appealed-ultimately to the Supreme Court if necessary.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at [email protected] or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at [email protected] or (907) 269-6269.

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