Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Fort Belknap Indian Community File Suit to Rescind the Keystone XL Presidential Permit
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Gros Ventre (Aaniiih) Tribes) with their counsel, the Native American Rights Fund, today sued the Trump Administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, for numerous violations of the law in the Keystone XL pipeline permitting process. The Tribes ask the court to declare the review process in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act and to rescind the illegal issuance of the presidential permit.
In March 2017, the U.S. Department of State granted TransCanada’s application and issued a presidential permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. This decision reversed two previous administrative decisions, was done without any public comment or environmental analysis, and was completed only 56 days after TransCanada submitted its application. The reversal was no surprise. According to a 2015 report filed with the Federal Election Commission, then-candidate Trump held between $250,000 and $500,000 worth of stock in TransCanada Pipelines, Ltd. NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth explains, “President Trump permitted the Keystone XL pipeline because he wanted to. It was a political step, having nothing to do with what the law actually requires. NARF is honored to represent the Rosebud Sioux and Fort Belknap Tribes to fully enforce the laws and fight this illegal pipeline.”
Throughout the process, there was no analysis of trust obligations or treaty rights and no analysis of the potential impacts on tribal citizens, hunting and fishing rights, water systems, or cultural sites in the pipeline’s paths.
About Rosebud Sioux Tribe: Also known as Sicangu Oyate, the Tribe has almost 35,000 members, many who reside in the area to be crossed by the pipeline.
About Fort Belknap Indian Community: Fort Belknap Reservation is homeland to the Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Gros Ventre (Aaniiih) Tribes. The Fort Belknap Indian Community Council is the governing body of the 7,000 tribal citizens.
About NARF: Native American Rights Fund is the oldest and largest nonprofit Indian law firm. NARF has represented over 275 Tribes in areas including tribal recognition, land claims, hunting and fishing rights, and religious freedom.
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