You may have seen the recent article Judge is asked to junk ruling that halted Rosemont work in the Sept. 5th edition of the Arizona Daily Star and wondered WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?
Well, it’s all a bit complicated, but the bottom line is that Hudbay is perhaps trying to exhaust all possible remedies before filing a full appeal, which they can still do within 60 days after the judge’s decision comes back on their recent “Motion to Alter or Amend.”
Here are a few more details on Rosemont’s “Motion to Alter or Amend” filing:
On Friday, August 30th, attorneys for Hudbay/Rosemont submitted what is legally known as a “Motion to Alter or Amend” the Tucson federal court’s Judgment that was issued on August 2nd. This Judgment formally implemented the court’s July 31st Order, which had ruled that the Forest Service’s Record of Decision and Final EIS violated numerous aspects of federal public land, mining, and environmental law. The court’s decision and Judgment “vacated,” which means set aside/invalidated, the ROD and FEIS, such that they no longer can be used by the Forest Service or any other federal agency in support of approving the Rosemont project operations.
Hudbay/Rosemont’s August 30th motion asks the court to amend its decision so that the FEIS should still be in force, and argued that the court exceeded its jurisdiction in vacating the ROD and FEIS.
Attorneys for SSSR and the other conservation group plaintiffs, along with attorneys for the three Tribes, have reviewed Hudbay/Rosemont’s motion and have found that it is without merit and should be denied by the court. SSSR’ and the Tribes’ responses to Hudbay/Rosemont’s motion were initially due to be filed September 13, but the court granted SSSR/Tribes’ motion to extend that deadline, and now the responses are due on September 27th. Notably, in its order setting the new response deadline, the court ruled that Hudbay/Rosemont will not be allowed to file a reply to SSSR/Tribes’ responses.
There is no time limit for Judge Soto to rule on the new motion, but it will be some time after SSSR/Tribes file their responses on September 27th.
So, we cannot predict with certainty what Judge Soto will decide, but our attorneys are confident that, as we noted above, Hudbay/Rosemont’s motion is without merit.
We’ll know for sure only when Judge Soto makes his decision, sometime after September 27th.
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