State legislators, citizens, and environmental advocacy organization brought action against Bureau of Parks and Lands, and power companies challenging Bureau’s lease of public reserved land to companies for construction of a high-capacity transmission line.
The Superior Court granted plaintiffs’ request for declaratory judgment and reversed Bureau’s decision to lease the public reserved land. Bureau and power companies appealed, and plaintiffs cross appealed. Plaintiffs moved to dismiss pending appeals as moot in light of voter initiative.
The Supreme Judicial Court held that:
- Citizens had standing to bring suit;
- Environmental advocacy organization had associational standing;
- Voter initiative retroactively imposing two-thirds majority legislative approval for lease of public lands violated Contracts Clause as to Bureau’s lease to power companies;
- Under law in effect at time, Bureau was not required to conduct any public administrative process prior to granting lease; and
- Bureau’s lease did not substantially alter use of public reserved lands at issue, and thus Bureau acted within its constitutional and statutory authority in granting lease.