## Facts

- A solar developer sought to build a utility-scale solar facility on roughly 6,500 acres of federal land in Imperial County, California, within the California Desert Conservation Area.
- The project required extensive ground disturbance and installation of tens of thousands of solar collectors and related infrastructure.
- The Quechan Tribe alleged the project area contained numerous culturally significant resources, including burial sites and prehistoric settlements, and that construction would cause permanent harm to sacred and historic areas.
- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) prepared environmental review documents and approved the project by Record of Decision on October 4, 2010, including a land-use plan amendment.
- The Tribe alleged BLM failed to conduct required government-to-government consultation under § 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and implementing regulations, including by proceeding with a programmatic agreement over the Tribe’s objections and without adequate information and time for meaningful input.
- The Tribe sued and moved for a preliminary injunction to stop construction while the case was pending; the developer intervened as a defendant.

## Issues

1. Whether the Tribe satisfied the standard for a preliminary injunction based on a likelihood of success (or serious questions) that BLM violated NHPA § 106 by failing to consult adequately with the Tribe before approving the project.
2. Whether the Tribe showed likely irreparable harm to cultural resources absent an injunction.
3. Whether the balance of hardships and the public interest favored enjoining construction pending further proceedings.

## Decision

- The court granted the Tribe’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
- The court found the Tribe showed at least a likelihood of success (and, at minimum, serious questions) on its NHPA § 106 consultation claim.
- The court found a likelihood of irreparable harm because construction would cause permanent, noncompensable damage to burial sites and other culturally significant resources.
- The court held the balance of hardships favored the Tribe because delay-related harms did not outweigh irreversible loss of cultural heritage.
- The court concluded the public interest favored requiring federal compliance with NHPA and its regulations before permitting ground-disturbing work.
- The court ordered the project temporarily enjoined pending further proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- NHPA § 106 and its implementing regulations require federal agencies to take effects on historic properties into account and to consult with tribes that attach religious and cultural significance to affected historic properties.
- Consultation must be meaningful and timely; notice, document transmittals, or generalized public meeting invitations may be insufficient if they do not amount to government-to-government consultation and do not allow tribal input to inform decisionmaking before approval.
- Preliminary injunctive relief is appropriate where a plaintiff shows a strong merits case (or serious questions) and likely irreparable harm, and where the balance of hardships and public interest favor preserving the status quo.
- Agency deadlines or policy priorities, including expedited renewable-energy development, do not excuse noncompliance with congressionally mandated procedural requirements.

## Conclusion

The court temporarily halted a large solar project on federal land after finding a strong showing that BLM likely failed to satisfy NHPA § 106 tribal-consultation duties and that construction threatened irreparable harm to culturally significant sites, with equities and public interest favoring statutory compliance before ground disturbance.


Quechan Tribe of Fort Yuma Indian Reservation v. U.S. Department of the Interior, 755 F. Supp. 2d 1104 (S.D. Cal. 2010)