Excerpt From Cortez Hills Injunction

TEMOAK TRIBE - The following is an excerpt from the Cortez Hills Injunction.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Barrick’s Motion for Entry of an Appropriately Tailored Preliminary Injunction is GRANTED as follows:

(1) BLM shall prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (“SEIS”) for the Cortez Hills Expansion Project in accordance with the following schedule to address (a) the potential air quality impacts of the off-site transportation and processing of refractory ore from the Cortez Hills Expansion Project under the Plan of Operations approved by the November, 2008, Record of Decision; and (b) the efficacy of the mitigation measures described in the October, 2008, Cortez Hills Expansion Project Final Environmental Impact Statement and November, 2008, Record of Decision to mitigate potential impacts on seeps and springs from groundwater pumping. In conjunction with its study of the potential environmental consequences of these two activities, BLM shall also conduct separate modeling for PM2.5 particulate emissions from the Cortez Hills Expansion Project and include the results of such modeling in the SEIS.
(a) Provided BLM received all baseline data from Barrick by March 1, 2010, BLM shall, by June 1, 2010, complete a draft SEIS and submit for publication in the Federal Register a notice that the draft SEIS is available for public review and comment. If BLM did not receive all baseline data from Barrick by March 1, 2010, BLM will be allowed additional time to prepare the draft SEIS commensurate with the amount of additional time it takes for Barrick to provide BLM with the baseline data. If BLM determines that it cannot meet this deadline, it will file a status report no later than May 1, 2010, informing the court of the progress made regarding the draft SEIS. The status report will also provide an explanation regarding why the agency needs additional time to complete the draft SEIS and its estimated completion time. If this status report is necessary, BLM will submit subsequent status reports every sixty (60) days until BLM submits the notice of availability of the draft SEIS to the Federal Register for publication. BLM shall allow at least forty-five (45) days from the date of publication of the notice of availability in the Federal Register for public review and comment on the draft SEIS. Upon publication of the notice in the Federal Register, BLM will provide an electronic copy of the draft SEIS to Plaintiffs and Barrick, and their attorneys of record in this case, and will make the draft SEIS available on BLM's website for public review.
(b) Within a reasonable time after the close of the comment period on the draft SEIS, BLM will examine and respond to the comments and make any changes to the draft SEIS that it finds appropriate as a result of the comments or other information. It will then submit for publication in the Federal Register a notice that the final SEIS, including comments received on the draft SEIS and responses to those comments, is available. If BLM determines that publication of the notice will not likely occur within ninety (90) days after the close of the public comment period, BLM will file a status report no later than seventy-five (75) days after the close of the public comment period, informing the court of the progress made on the final SEIS. The status report will also provide an explanation regarding why the agency needs additional time to complete the final SEIS and its estimated completion time. If this status report is necessary, BLM will continue to submit a status report every sixty (60) days until BLM submits the notice of availability of the final SEIS to the Federal Register for publication.
(c) BLM shall issue its Record of Decision within a reasonable time, but not less than sixty (60) days, after the notice of availability for final SEIS is published in the Federal Register, provided the final SEIS does not require further analysis and/or is not referred to the Council on Environmental Quality, pursuant to 40 C.F.R. § 1504.1, et seq. If BLM determines that issuance of the Record of Decision will not likely occur within sixty (60) days after publication of the notice of availability of the final SEIS, BLM will file a status report no later than forty-five (45) days after publication of the notice of availability of the final SEIS, informing the court of the progress made on the Record of Decision. The status report will also provide an explanation of why the agency needs additional time to complete the Record of Decision and its estimated completion time. If this status report is necessary, BLM will continue to submit a status report every sixty (60) days until BLM issues its Record of Decision.

(2) While BLM is preparing the SEIS, and unless and until the following activities are authorized by a Record of Decision after completion of the SEIS, Defendant-Intervenor Barrick Cortez is enjoined as follows:
(a) Barrick shall not transport for off-site processing any refractory ore mined pursuant to the Cortez Hills Expansion Project approved by the November, 2008, Record of Decision.
(b) Barrick shall not pump groundwater under the authorization granted by the BLM’s November 12, 2008, Record of Decision. Previous dewatering authorizations shall not be affected by this order, and Barrick may continue to conduct dewatering under those previous authorizations.

(3) Except as expressly provided above, the development and exploitation of the Cortez Hills Expansion Project may proceed under the Plan of Operations approved by the November, 2008, Record of Decision.