January 20, 2025

Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of January 20, 2025

Public Lands: Alaska Files a Claim Against the Department of the Interior Over the Recent Oil and Gas Lease Sales in the Arctic Refuge ⚡
On January 6, 2025, the State of Alaska (Alaska) filed a suit against the Department of the Interior (DOI) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. State of Alaska et al. v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior et al., No. 3:25-cv-00003. Alaska alleges that the DOI’s alternations to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Arctic Refuge) oil and gas lease sales made the plots offered for lease “undevelopable.” This claim comes as the DOI Bureau of Land Management (BLM) executed a second round of lease sales in the Arctic Refugee with no bidders. Alaska challenges the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), undertaken by the DOI after an initial round of lease sales, which reduced the amount of land offered for leases to “approximately 400,000 mineral acres.” Alaska alleges that these reductions hindered the ability of potential lessees to conduct oil and gas development, leading to the absence of bids during the second lease sale. Alaska also challenges the SEIS, alleging that the BLM did not properly coordinate with the state during its development. Alaska asks the Court to set aside the SIES as violating the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which mandated DOI to hold two successive oil and gas lease sales in the Artic Refugee, and the National Environmental Policy Act. For background, see SLWR—Jan. 13, 2025, “Public Lands: Second Round of Oil and Gas Leases in the Arctic Refuge Conclude with No Bidders.”

Technology: DOE and EPA Announce Funding for Biofuel Development Projects
On January 8, 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that $6 million dollars of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds will be used to support biofuel research projects in New York, California, and New Hampshire. According to the announcement, these projects are expected to support and expand our nation’s bioeconomy by utilizing sustainable biomass and waste feedstocks to improve high-impact biofuel performance and reduce its’ production costs. The projects will also aid in scaling up biofuel production systems in order to expand the U.S. renewable fuels sector, and reduce reliance on imported transportation and jet fuel, in line with the DOE’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge. The selected projects and the new integrated biorefinery technologies they will yield will also help the energy industry meet the lower emissions requirements set out in the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard Program. More details about the individual projects can be found here.

National Energy Policy: President Biden Issues Memorandum U.S. Protecting Coastline from Oil and Gas Leasing
On January 6, 2025, the White House announced two presidential memoranda banning new oil and gas leasing of over 625 million acres along the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and additional parts of the Northern Berring Sea in Alaska. The first memorandum protects 44 million acres in Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea, part of the Northern Berring Sea Climate Resilience Area. The second memorandum protects the following: approximately 334 million acres along the entire U.S. East Coast on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf from Canada to Florida, and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico; approximately 250 million acres of Federal waters on the U.S. West Coast, including the coastlines of Washington, Oregon, and California.  None of the areas protected by these bans are under any existing leases. The President has authority under section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1341(a) to withdraw U.S. ocean lands from future oil and natural gas leasing. These bans were made “without specific expiration,” or in other words are “indefinite.”

Pipelines: D.C. Appeals Court Upholds Permit for New Indiana Pipeline Project
On January 7, 2025, the Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit ruled that a permit issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a natural gas pipeline in Indiana should be upheld. In the case of Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Inc. v. FERC, an Indiana pipeline construction permit was challenged by Citizens of Action Coalition of Indiana (Citizens), an environmental group, arguing that FERC should have analyzed non-gas alternatives. The court reasoned that a plain reading of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) does not require FERC to assess non-gas alternatives. Further, Citizens’ arguments that FERC failed to label the impending emissions as significant or insignificant failed, as FERC reasonably explained its environmental assessment. As such, the permit issued by FERC stands, and pipeline construction will continue.

 

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CENTER PROGRAMS & RESOURCES

Quarterly Dairy Legal Webinar series – The Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law will conduct the latest installment in its Quarterly Dairy Legal Webinar series.  Each quarter’s free one-hour webinar covers the legal and regulatory developments in the U.S. dairy industry from the preceding quarter and includes an in-depth look at a single focus topic of law, regulation, or government policy of interest to dairy professionals of all kinds.

Understanding Agricultural Law Series. A free monthly Zoom webinar series for agricultural and rural business advisors. One hour of substantive CLE credit available for Pennsylvania-licensed attorneys at no charge. All events on Fridays, noon–1 pm (ET). Upcoming:

Follow us on Twitter @AgShaleLaw to see the latest with our #ShaleLaw HotLinks 

Connect with us on Facebook.

Penn State Farmland Energy Legal Podcast: Listen to the latest episode here.

Oil & Gas Law & Policy Resources:

Bloomberg, China’s Gas Growth to Slow as Cheaper Options Squeeze Demand (January 14, 2025)

McFarland, Hahn v. ConocoPhillips: When is a Stipulation Enforceable? (January 13, 2025)

Bridges, Malle, Mitchell, Treanor, Markowitz, Akin Hosts ‘Drilling Down: What Oil & Gas Companies Can Expect from Federal Agencies During Trump’s Second Administration’ Webinar (January 15, 2025)

Sartain, Definitions Mattered in Oil Field Master Services Agreements (January 16, 2025)

Bloomberg, Oil Holds Near Five-Month High as Global Supply Risks Intensify (January 14, 2025)

FEDERAL ACTIONS—EXECUTIVE & LEGISLATIVE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PRESS RELEASES

U.S. Department of Energy Funds the Efforts of Seven Non-Profit Educational Organizations to Build the Pipeline for Tomorrow’s Energy Workforce (January 16, 2025)

DOE Focuses on Energy Storage Manufacturability to Improve Production, Reduce Costs (January 16, 2025)

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY PRESS RELEASES

EPA and Continental Cement Company in Hannibal, Missouri, Settle Alleged Clean Air Act Violations (January 16, 2025)

FEDERAL EXECUTIVE AGENCIES (Federal Register November 29- December 6, 2024)

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

90 FR 3200 Notice: “Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc.; Notice of Scoping Period Requesting Comments on Environmental Issues for the Proposed Cedar Vale Compressor Station Project” (January 14, 2025)

90 FR 3824 Notice: “Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC; Notice of Schedule for the Preparation of an Environmental Assessment for the Line 4010 Abandonment Project” (January 15, 2025)

Land Management Bureau

90 FR 4779 Notice: “Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Oil and Gas Leasing Decisions in Seven States From February 2015 to December 2020” (January 16, 2025)

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

90 FR 3713 Rule: “Pipeline Safety: Safety of Gas Transmission Pipelines: Repair Criteria, Integrity Management Improvements, Cathodic Protection, Management of Change, and Other Related Amendments: Corrections To Conform to Judicial Review.” (January 15, 2025)

Ocean Energy Management Bureau

90 FR 2611 Rule: “2025 Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustments for Oil, Gas, and Sulfur Operations in the Outer Continental Shelf” (January 13, 2025)

U.S. HOUSE ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE

H.R.381 Bill: “To amend the Natural Gas Act to require that impacts to climate stability, consumer energy costs, and environmental justice be considered in a determination of whether proposed exportation of natural gas is in the public interest, and for other purposes.” (January 14, 2025 – Introduced)

U.S. SENATE ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE 

S.104 Bill: “A bill to rescind Presidential memoranda on the withdrawal of certain areas of the outer Continental Shelf from oil or natural gas leasing.” (January 15, 2025 – Introduced)

STATE ACTIONS—EXECUTIVE & LEGISLATIVE 

PENNSYLVANIA EXECUTIVE AGENCIES (Pa. Bulletin Vol. 55, No. 2 – January 11, 2025)

 

Written by:
Jasmine Gunning, Research Assistant
Dillon Lightfoot, Research Assistant
Riley Amdor, Research Assistant
Caden Dean-Sauter, Research Assistant
Victoria Dutterer, Research Assistant
Jose Rojas, Research Assistant
Jackie Schweichler, Staff Attorney