## Facts

- The Colorado River Indian Tribes, a federally recognized tribe, operated the BlueWater Resort and Casino on tribal lands in Arizona, offering Class II and Class III gaming.
- The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) issued Minimum Internal Control Standards (MICS), prescribing detailed, mandatory operational and internal control procedures for gaming facilities.
- NIGC sought to apply MICS to the Tribe’s Class III (casino-style) gaming operations.
- The Tribe sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging IGRA did not authorize NIGC to regulate the conduct of Class III games through mandatory operating rules.
- The district court granted summary judgment for the Tribe, concluding NIGC exceeded its statutory authority; NIGC appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether IGRA authorizes NIGC to promulgate mandatory operational and internal control regulations (MICS) governing Class III gaming conducted under tribal–state compacts.

## Decision

- The D.C. Circuit affirmed the judgment for the Tribe.
- The court held IGRA does not grant NIGC authority to regulate how Class III games are conducted through mandatory MICS.
- The court concluded that, under IGRA’s structure, regulation of Class III gaming is allocated to the tribal–state compact process (with Secretarial approval), not unilateral NIGC rulemaking.

## Legal Principles

- Statutory interpretation must respect a statute’s structure and specific allocations of authority; a general rulemaking clause cannot expand agency power beyond the substantive scheme Congress enacted.
- IGRA creates distinct regulatory regimes: exclusive tribal control for Class I, express federal oversight mechanisms for Class II, and a tribal–state compact model for Class III.
- The absence of express, parallel Class III regulatory grants to NIGC—contrasted with detailed Class II provisions—supports the conclusion that NIGC lacks authority to impose Class III operating standards.
- General oversight, enforcement, and funding provisions do not supply an implied delegation for significant operational regulation where the statute places primary Class III control in compacts approved by the Secretary of the Interior.

## Conclusion

The court held that IGRA’s compact-based framework for Class III gaming does not permit NIGC to impose mandatory MICS governing the operation of Class III games, and it invalidated NIGC’s attempted application of those standards to the Tribe’s Class III casino gaming.


Colorado River Indian Tribes v. Nat'l Indian Gaming Comm'n, 466 F.3d 134 (D.C. Cir. 2006)