Sec. 11. Consent of United States to jurisdiction for judicial review of a Navajo Nation Water Use Permit decision
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On the Enforceability Date, the consent of the United States is hereby given, with the consent of the Navajo Nation under Article 17.14.4 of the Agreement, to jurisdiction in the District Court for the Thirteenth Judicial District of the State of New Mexico, and in the New Mexico Court of Appeals and the New Mexico Supreme Court on appeal therefrom in the same manner as provided under New Mexico law, over an action filed in such District Court by any party to a Navajo Nation Water Use Permit administrative proceeding under Article 17.10.4 of the Agreement for the limited and sole purpose of judicial review of a Navajo Nation Water Use Permit decision under Article 17.10.5 of the Agreement.
The consent of the United States for review of a Navajo Nation Water Use Permit is limited to judicial review, based on the record developed through the administrative process of the Navajo Nation, under a standard of judicial review limited to determining whether the Navajo Nation decision on the application for the Navajo Nation Water Use Permit— is supported by substantial evidence; is not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law; is not in accordance with the Agreement or the Navajo Partial Final Judgment and Decree; or shows that the Navajo Nation acted fraudulently or outside the scope of its authority.
Navajo Nation Water Code or Navajo Water Law provisions that meet the requirements of Article 17.10 of the Agreement shall be given full faith and credit in any proceeding described in this section. To the extent that a State court conducting judicial review under this section must interpret provisions of Navajo Nation law that are not express provisions of the Navajo Nation Water Code or Navajo Nation water law, the State court shall certify the question of interpretation to the Navajo Nation court.
Any issues of interpretation of standards in Article 17.10.6 of the Agreement are not subject to certification. Nothing in this section limits the jurisdiction of the Decree Court to interpret and enforce the Agreement.