Pacific Northwest-Mining

摘要

On June 15,2020, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a decision by the Oregon Supreme Court regarding the issuance of a permit for discharge of pollutants resulting from suction dredge mining. See E. Or. Mining Ass'nv.DEQ,445P.3d251 (Or.2019),cert. denied, No. 19-839, 2020 WL 3146697 (June 15, 2020) (mem.). Thedenial ends lengthy litigation that began in 2005 when the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a general discharge permit for suction dredge mining known as a "700-PM permit" (2005 Permit). That permit authorized suction dredge mining as long as certain water quality standards were met. The 2005 Permit was challenged by both mining and environmental groups and was ultimately invalidated by the Oregon Court of Appeals on the grounds that it exceeded the state's authority. See Nw. Envtl, Def. Ctr. v. EQC, 223 P.3d 1071 (Or. Ct. App. 2009); see also Vol. XXVII, No. 1 (2010) of this Newsletter.