American Exploration & Mining Association v. Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior, et al.

This case involves the Secretary of the Interior’s withdrawal of more than 1 million acres in northern Arizona. In 1976, Congress passed the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (“FLPMA”) to bring order to what had become a tangled array of laws governing the federal lands. A major component of this effort was to place constraints on the Executive’s ability to withdraw lands. One of the most important constraints was a legislative veto embedded in the provision delegating authority to the Secretary to make large-tract withdrawals, i.e., withdrawals of 5,000 acres or more. As the courts below held, this legislative veto is unconstitutional under INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 (1983). Nevertheless, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the unconstitutional legislative veto could be severed from the large-tract withdrawal provision in which it was embedded without violating Congress’s intent when it passed that provision. The effects of this ruling are: (1) the Secretary has the same unfettered power to make large-tract withdrawals as existed before FLPMA; and (2) the 1 million-acre withdrawal remains in place. The question presented is: Did Congress intend to grant the Secretary the authority to make large-tract withdrawals without the congressional oversight provided by the legislative veto embedded in the delegation of authority?