<< COB00001 >>
IN THE UNITED STATESTDISTRLCTCOURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMEJA
ELOUISE PEPION COBELL et al	)
	Plaintiffs,	)
		)
	v.	)	Case No. 1:96CV01285
)	(Judge Lamberth)
GALE A. NORTON, Secretary of the Interior, et al,)
		)
	Defendants.	)
EMERGENCY MOTION FOR PARTIAL RELIEF FROM TEMPORARY
RESTRAINING ORDER
	On December 5, 2001, the Court entered a Temporary Restraining Order, as amended on
December 6, 2001, requiring the Department of the Interior ("Interior") to "immediately
disconnect from the Internet all information technology systems that house or provide access to
individual Indian trust data" and to "immediately disconnect from the Internet all computers
within the custody and control of the Department of the Interior, its employees and contractors,
that have access to individual Indian trust data."
	Interior has taken steps to identify the impact of the Temporary Restraining Order on the
Department and the third parties to whom and for whom it provides services. Some of these
impacts have the potential to have a severe, negative impact on third parties. Two examples
follow.
	First, the United States Geological Survey ("USGS") plays several crucial roles that have
been impacted by its compliance with the Temporary Restraining Order (a Declaration in support
of the facts in this paragraph will be provided at the hearing scheduled for 10:00am, December 8,
<< COB00002 >>
2001). For example, the USGS runs the National Earthquake Information Center, which is not
able to issue bulletins in real time without hiternet access, lessening the effectiveness of
emergency personnel in responding to a potential earthquake. In addition, USGS is unable to
provide real-time dissemination of information about floods, droughts, streamfiow, and water
quality at approximately 8,000 USGS gaging stations and monitoring wells worldwide. USGS is
also actively involved in Homeland Security and issues related to Afghanistan. On December 5,
2001, USGS' personal computer network provided a potential conduit to access information
technology systems that housed individual Indian trust data via the Internet. In response to the
December 5, 2001 Temporary Restraining Order, USGS disconnected its personal computer
network from the Internet. Remaining disconnected from the Internet will have a substantial
negative impact on its ability to perform essential functions to guarantee health and safety.
	Second, the National Interagency Fire Center (BIAINIiFC) depends on communication
among fire community agencies over the Internet and wide area network connections.
Declaration of David M. Potter, Ex. A, ¶ 2. At present, if a national fire emergency were to
occur, BIA/NIFC "would have a diminished ability to respond due to the restricted
communications." Id. ¶ 3.a. BIA/NTFC is not on the BIA network and it does not handle any
Indian trust funds. Id. ¶ 4. Rather, it relies on the National Park Service ("NPS") for both local
and wide area network service. On December 5, 2001, the NPS' personal computer network
provided a potential conduit to access information technology systems that housed individual
Indian trust data via the Internet. In response to the December 5, 2001 Temporary Restraining
Order, NPS disconnected its personal computer network from the Internet. Remaining
disconnected from the Internet will have a substantial negative impact on BIAINTFC's ability to
2
<< COB00003 >>
perform essential functions to guarantee health and safety.
	Interior believes that these and other problems will be correctable if Interior is permitted
to reconnect to the Internet any information technology system that does not house individual
Indian trust data and that does not provide access to individual Indian trust data, even if it did
satisfy one of these criteria when the Temporary Restraining Order was entered. On December 8,
2001, this will be true of the USGS and NPS systems, along with certain other Interior systems (a
declaration in support of this statement will be provided at the hearing scheduled for 10:00am,
December 8, 2001). Tn cases where Interior has taken or is able to take action to place these
systems outside the systems originally covered by the Temporary Restraining Order, the same
purpose in keeping them isolated from the Internet is no longer served. If the Court grants this
partial relief, Interior will be able to reconnect to the Internet USGS, BIAINIFC, and other
important services that pose no threat to individual Indian trust data.
	For these reasons, Interior Defendants request that the Court permit [nterior's information
technology systems that neither house individual Indian trust data nor provide access to such
data, to reconnect to the Internet.
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<< COB00004 >>
Dated: December 7, 2001	Respectfully submitted,
ROBERT D. McCALLUM, JR.
Assistant Attorney General
STUART E. SCHIFFER
~~pUt,y~ssi stant Attorney General
CHRISTOPHE KOHN
Director
SANDRA P. SPOONER
Deputy Director
JOHN T. STEMPLEWICZ
Senior Trial Attorney
MATTHEW I. FADER
Trial Attorney
Commercial Litigation Branch
Civil Division
P.O. Box 875
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044-0875
(202) 514-7194
OF COUI4SEL:
Sabrina A. McCarthy
Department of the Interior
Office of the Solicitor
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<< COB00005 >>
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
ELOUISE PEPION COBELL et al	)
		)
	Plaintiffs,	)
		)
	v.	)	Case No. I:96CV01285
)	(Judge Lamberth)
GALE A. NORTON, Secretary of the Interior, et aL,)
		)
	Defendants.	)
ORDER PROVIDING PARTIAL RELIEF FROM TEMPORARY RESTRAINING
ORDER
	In consideration of Interior Defendants' Emergency Motion for Partial Relief From
Temporary Restraining Order, it is hereby
	ORDERED that Interior can reconnect to the Internet any information technology system
that does not house individual Indian trust data and that does not provide access to individual
Indian trust data.
	SO ORDERED this ____ day of	,2001.
	ROYCE C. LAMBERTH
United States District Judge
1
<< COB00006 >>
A
<< COB00007 >>
12/07r200r 20:42 FAX	~ 001
December 7, 2001
DECLARATION
1.	My name is David M. Potter, I am the Information Resource Management Team Leader,
Bureau of Indian Affairs, National InteTagency Fire Center (BLAJNIFC).
2.	Because many of the fire community agencies communicate with each other over the
Internet and wide area network connections, the current network restrictions limit how
well each individual office can communicate with the other offices across this vast
interagency operation.
3.	At this time the BIAJNIFC employees cannot perform many of their primary tasks, these
include:
a)	If a national emergency were to occur during this shutdown, all of the fire
community (including the BIA) would have a diminished ability to respond due to
the restricted communications, and
b)	Fire managers and dispatchers cannot access centralized emergency response
computer systems such as the Resource Ordering and Status System (ROSS), the
Distributed Mail System (DMS), Firefighter Qualifications System (SACS), and
the Weather Information Management System (WIMS), etc.
4.	The BLAJNIFC office is not on the BIA network. It relies upon the National Park Service
(NPS) for both local and wide aiea network services. Additionally, the BIAJNIFC office
does not handle any Indian Trust funds.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
	_________________	>~ ~ —  ~ /
	David M. Potter	Dated
<< COB00008 >>
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
	I declare under penalty of perjury that, on December 7, 2001, I served the foregoing
Emergency Motion For Partial Relief From Temporary Restraining Order, by facsimile only, in
accordance with their written request of October 31, 2001, upon:
Keith Harper, Esq.	Dennis M Gingold, Esq.
Loma Babby, Esq.	Mark Brown, Esq.
Native American Rights Fund	1275 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
1712 N Street, NW	Ninth Floor
Washington, D.C. 20036-2976	Washington, D.C. 20004
202-822-0068	202-318-2372
by facsimile and by U.S. mail upon:
Alan L. Balaran, Esq.
Special Master
1717 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
12th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20006
by U.S. Mail upon:
Elliott Levitas, Esq.
1100 Peachtree Street, Suite 2800
Atlanta, GA 30309-4530
and by hand delivery upon:
Joseph S. Kieffer
Court Monitor
420 7th Street, NW
Apt 705
Washington, DC 20004
Erin Langs