D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Sends Back Royalty Dispute Between Apache Indian Tribe and Department of Interior

摘要

An opinion issued 7/16/10 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit says the Department of Interior failed to consider an important aspect of a problem stemming from the calculation of royalties owed to an Indian tribe when it retrospectively applied regulations intended to have only prospective effect, and Interior failed to engage in reasoned decision-making when it made an unacknowledged volte-face on the applicability of the methodology posed by the Indians.