Mountain States Legal Foundation just scored a key victory against the federal government in a trial court in California, helping the Ray family and their family company, Rayco, vindicate their rights after decades of unreasonable behavior by the federal Department of the Interior.
Rayco has been trying to get approval to mine cinders in the California desert since at least the 1940s. After decades, the Department of the Interior ignored the long history of Rayco’s efforts and denied Rayco’s requests for the approvals needed to mine. The federal agency did not follow the law, and it acted unreasonably. So we took up Rayco’s case to right this wrong.
Now the federal district court has agreed with us, and it found that the Department of the Interior did not look at all relevant evidence—dating back to the 1940s—when it denied Rayco’s attempts to mine. In doing so, the federal agency had failed to follow its statutory requirement to make reasonable decisions based on the relevant evidence, and it set aside the agency’s denial, ordering the agency to start over with the relevant evidence.
This is an important victory for Rayco. The district court’s determination has real, sharp teeth, requiring the Department of the Interior to take meaningful steps to treat Rayco fairly. It also validates Rayco’s decision to take the matter to court, rather than just accepting the agency’s arbitrary and unreasonable decision.
We continue to evaluate the federal court’s opinion, including one part where the judge held in favor of the government with respect to a specific 10 acres of land. No matter what, Mountain States will continue to vigorously protect our clients from federal agencies that don’t appropriately respect property rights.
