2022 fall

With the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the future of solar energy in Arizona has changed dramatically. Various companies, local and national, have recently started developing or have already developed projects in the state. Solar energy development will create more economic incentives toward green energy, advance diversity in energy capture, and establish a more community- and tribal-based approach to natural resources while prioritizing renewable energy as a primary source of the state’s power. 

Overall, solar power in the American West is generating popularity. In Arizona, the sun is a valuable future asset to renewable energy and will continue to be a promising resource with respect to developing projects and plans in the state. 

A new trend in grazing litigation appears to have emerged which requires additional effort by the land management agency to limit cattle grazing on riparian areas home to endangered and threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). The three recent settlement agreements discussed below are groundbreaking for land management agencies: all three agreements require the agencies to be held directly accountable for the results of grazing. The agencies are required to monitor riparian areas, maintain and repair fencing, and remove trespass cattle. This development is important because it requires the agencies to take more of an immediate role in the conservation of riparian areas.

Theodore Roosevelt once labeled the gray wolf “the beast of waste and destruction.” This label, and other similar labels, led to the nationwide overhunting of gray wolves in the United States. By 1960, the wolf population had quickly dwindled from near 2 million, to as little as 300 wolves in the lower 48 states. This started the rather tumultuous protection journey for the gray wolves.

November 24th marked the 100^th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact, the framework that governs the vital water source among the Tribes and seven basin states (Lower Basin: Arizona, California, Nevada; Upper Basin: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) that rely on it. But the compact’s centennial marks a moment of extreme uncertainty for the river’s management.

Colorado River Indian Tribes’ (CRIT) potential ability to lease its water rights to off-reservation users would be a significant departure from the first 100 years of Colorado River management. It would carry the benefit of giving CRIT more influence in the future of the river. The potential outcome behooves all those dependent on the Colorado River to consider what responsible use means in the coming decades of shortage.

What’s been called the “the most significant federal court decision on federal mining law in several decades,” could have broad implications for federal mining law and the future of the domestic mining industry. In May 2022, the Ninth Circuit affirmed District Court Judge James Soto’s order temporarily blocking the proposed Rosemont Copper mine in the Santa Rita mountains of southern Arizona. As the world economy transitions away from fossil fuels and adopts electric vehicles and other clean technologies, the demand for cobalt, lithium, nickel, and other minerals is soaring. The development and manufacture of renewable energy technologies, the United States’ lengthy permitting process, which averages seven to ten years, and the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) tax incentives for domestically sourced minerals create a unique environment in which both sides of the political aisle have an appetite for mining law and permitting reform.