A divided federal appeals court has upheld a Trump administration decision allowing Oklahoma to oversee environmental regulatory programmes on Native American tribal lands within the state, rejecting a challenge brought by the Pawnee Nation.
The 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Denver, ruled 2-1 that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acted within its legal authority when it granted Oklahoma the power without imposing conditions designed to protect tribal interests.
At the centre of the dispute is a little-known provision inserted into a 2005 transportation funding law. Nicknamed the “Midnight Rider” because it was added late in the legislative process without discussion, the provision allows Oklahoma to seek authority over environmental programmes on tribal lands.
The state invoked the provision in 2020, following a landmark US Supreme Court ruling that recognised roughly half of Oklahoma, including much of its eastern region, as Native American reservation territory beyond the reach of certain state authorities.
The EPA, during Donald Trump’s first administration, approved Oklahoma’s request that same year.
The decision was subsequently reversed in 2021 under President Joe Biden after several tribes, including the Pawnee Nation, raised objections. The agency reconsidered the matter and eventually approved Oklahoma’s application again during Biden’s final days in office, but this time required the state to pursue consensus with affected tribes.
That safeguard did not survive Trump’s return to the White House. The EPA issued a fresh decision removing the condition, prompting the Pawnee Nation to challenge the move in court.
The tribe argued that the 2005 provision had expired in 2009 alongside other parts of the legislation. It also maintained that the EPA had wrongly concluded it lacked the authority to attach conditions to Oklahoma’s approval.
Writing for the majority, Circuit Judge Timothy Tymkovich rejected those arguments. He said the provision contained no expiry clause and that its language did not permit the EPA to qualify an approval that Congress had directed the agency to grant when statutory requirements were met.
The majority concluded that the EPA could not narrow the approval by adding conditions that the legislation itself did not authorise.
Circuit Judge Robert Bacharach joined Tymkovich in the decision. Judge Richard Federico, appointed during the Biden administration, dissented.
Federico argued that the EPA retained discretion to introduce at least some measures protecting tribal interests. He cautioned against allowing state authority to displace tribal sovereignty without a clear directive from Congress.
The ruling marks a setback for the Pawnee Nation, which had sought to preserve safeguards for tribes affected by Oklahoma’s environmental regulatory authority.
Michael Freeman of Earthjustice, who represented the tribe, described the outcome as disappointing and said the Pawnee Nation was considering its next steps.
The case, Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma v. Zeldin, places the interpretation of the 2005 provision at the heart of a broader dispute over the balance between state regulatory powers and tribal sovereignty.
