Published: April 5, 2023 |

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Close to a year in, a lawsuit brought by environmental groups against Wyoming’s June 2022 oil and gas lease sale is one step closer to a decision.

Earthjustice, which sued on behalf of the Wilderness Society and Friends of the Earth shortly after the lease sale began, filed a motion for summary judgment — a request for the court to rule on the merits of the case before it goes to trial — last week.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offered close to 120,000 acres to oil and gas companies during the lease sale. It received bids on about two-thirds of that land, generating about $13 million in revenue.

Environmental groups, frustrated by the Biden administration’s decision to resume leasing without making meaningful changes to the program — such as placing new limits on lands’ eligibility or charging producers more to operate on those lands — turned once again to the courts, alleging that the agency’s environmental review failed to meet the standards outlined in federal law.

“The Wyoming lease sale perpetuates a history of serious flaws that have afflicted the federal oil and gas program for years,” the groups’ memorandum argues. The sale, it adds, was “arbitrary and capricious and in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.”

The landmark environmental law, better known as NEPA, often winds up at the center of oil and gas leasing disputes. Enacted in 1970, it directs the federal government “to use all practicable means and measures … in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.” But it makes no mention of climate change.

Many — though not all — of environmental groups’ courtroom wins against oil and gas lease sales have resulted from judges agreeing that climate change must still be considered under NEPA. The Wilderness Society and Friends of the Earth hope the same reasoning will prevail in the Washington circuit court where the Wyoming case is being heard.

The U.S. Department of the Interior will have until late spring to respond to the groups’ motion, as will the state of Wyoming, which joined the case in support of the lease sale.

The two parties are at odds with each other in a separate, ongoing lawsuit over oil and gas leasing: The state and multiple trade groups, which lost their initial lawsuit largely because of technicalities, sued for a second time late last year over the Biden administration’s decision not to hold any onshore lease sales for five consecutive quarters. Environmental groups participating in that case are backing up the Interior Department.

Federal officials have said they delayed the 2021 and 2022 sales in part because they wanted to make sure the associated environmental analysis would hold up in court.

The environmental groups trying to have the June leases thrown out still believe the administration had the right to continue postponing sales until it felt confident in its review process.

“We’re disappointed that the Biden administration went ahead with the sale. The sale perpetuates a lot of mistakes that the administration has already admitted its oil and gas program has, but it didn’t fix them before it pressed ahead with a large sale,” said Michael Freeman, an attorney for Earthjustice.

No federal lease sales have been held in Wyoming since last June — another sore spot for the oil and gas industry. But the BLM is advancing plans for three more lease sales in the state this year, scheduled for the second, third, and fourth quarters. This year, in total, almost 400,000 Wyoming acres will be considered for leasing, WyoFile reported last week, though many of those parcels could be removed before the sales actually take place.

The sweeping Inflation Reduction Act, which hikes the minimum bid, rental cost and royalty rate on new federal leases in accordance with the Interior Department’s internal review, was not in effect during the June 2022 sale. It will impact all of the lease sales held in Wyoming this year.

Wyoming’s oil and gas industry has warned that the added expenses will discourage new development — and will be especially damaging to exploratory drilling — in the state.

Earthjustice, however, says the adjustments that have been made aren’t good enough.

“We think it’s imperative that the Biden administration fix the numerous problems with the oil and gas program, before it commits even more public lands for oil and gas,” Freeman said.

Source: Casper Star Tribune

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