Cite as: 526 U. S. 865 (1999)
Opinion of the Court
gas had long been considered a dangerous waste product of coal mining. By the 1970's, however, it was apparent that CBM gas could be a significant energy resource, see Duel & Kimm, Coalbed Gas: A Source of Natural Gas, Oil & Gas J., June 16, 1975, p. 47, and, in the shadow of the Arab oil embargo, the Federal Government began to encourage the immediate production of CBM gas through grants, see 42 U. S. C. §§ 5901-5915 (1994 ed. and Supp. III), and substantial tax credits, see 26 U. S. C. § 29 (1994 ed. and Supp. III).
Commercial development of CBM gas was hampered, however, by uncertainty over its ownership. "In order to expedite the development of this energy source," the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior issued a 1981 opinion concluding that the reservation of coal to the United States in the 1909 and 1910 Acts did not encompass CBM gas. See Ownership of and Right to Extract Coalbed Gas in Federal Coal Deposits, 88 I. D. 538, 539. In reliance on the Solicitor's 1981 opinion, oil and gas companies entered into leases to produce CBM gas with individual landowners holding title under 1909 and 1910 Act patents to some 200,000 acres in which the Tribe owns the coal.
In 1991, the Tribe brought suit in Federal District Court against petitioners, the royalty owners and producers under the oil and gas leases covering that land, and the federal agencies and officials responsible for the administration of lands held in trust for the Tribe. The Tribe sought, inter alia, a declaration that Congress' reservation of coal in the 1909 and 1910 Acts extended to CBM gas, so that the Tribe— not the successors in interest of the land patentees—owned the CBM gas.
The District Court granted summary judgment for the defendants, holding that the plain meaning of "coal" is the "solid rock substance" used as fuel, which does not include CBM gas. 874 F. Supp. 1142, 1154 (Colo. 1995). On appeal, a panel of the Court of Appeals reversed. 119 F. 3d 816, 819 (CA10 1997). The court then granted rehearing en banc
871
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007