ORDER REGARDING THE STATE OF MONTANA'S MOTION TO INTERVENE

BRIAN MORRIS, District Judge.

Applicant for intervention, the State of Montana, has moved for leave of Court to intervene as of right pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2). (Doc. 39.) Federal Defendants do not oppose the State of Montana's intervention in this matter. (Doc. 39 at 3.) The State of Wyoming also does not oppose. Id.

Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a)(2), to intervene as of right, an applicant must show that "(1) it has a significant protectable interest relating to the property or transaction that is the subject of the action; (2) the disposition of the action may, as a practical matter, impair or impede the applicant's ability to protect its interest; (3) the application is timely; and (4) the existing parties may not adequately represent the applicant's interest." In re Estate of Ferdinand E. Marcos Human Rights Litig., 536 F.3d 980, 984 (9th Cir. 2008) (internal quotations and citation omitted).

The State of Montana contains a number of coal leases that would be affected by the coal moratorium and potential injunction at issue in this case. (Doc. 40 at 6-7.) The State of Montana also occupies a different position than that of the United States and the State of Wyoming on the basis that the State of Montana has unique interests as a high volume coal producing state. Id. at 8-10. The Applicant meets the standard for intervention as of right.

IT IS ORDERED that the unopposed motion (Doc. 39) for intervention as of right of Applicant State of Montana is hereby GRANTED.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant-Intervenor State of Montana must file its responsive pleading or motion within seven days after the deadline by which Federal Defendants must file their responsive pleading or motion.

The Court will impose briefing word limits on all parties, including intervenors, at the preliminary pretrial conference, which will be scheduled after responsive pleadings or motions are filed in this case.