Powder River Basin Resource Council V. Babbitt

Plaintiff Powder River Basin Resource Council (PRBRC) filed suit under the citizen suit provision of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), 30 U.S.C. 1270(a)(2), the federal Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. 2201, and the act allowing citizens to compel federal governmental performance, 28 U.S.C. 1361. Plaintiff alleged that the attorney's fees provision of Wyoming's surface mining regulatory scheme violated established federal regulations and requested declaratory and injunctive relief. The district court granted defendant's request for summary judgment, holding that plaintiff's action against the state was barred by the Eleventh Amendment and that its case against the federal government was unripe. The court also denied plaintiff's request for attorney's fees in the case at bar. We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1291.