public lands
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of April 29, 2024
Public Lands: DOI and BLM Issue Final Conservation and Leasing Rule for Public Lands ⚡
On April 18, 2024, the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced a final rule relating to the BLM’s management and conservation of public lands. The Public Lands Rule mandates that the BLM manage the landscape of public lands as a whole with land health in mind, in order to protect watersheds, local ecosystems, and wildlife habitats. The Rule also provides for restoration leases seeking to restore degraded lands, and mitigation leases, which will allow lessees to offset […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of August 14, 2023
Production and Operation: The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Announces New Fuel Economy Standards for Cars and Trucks ⚡
On July 28, 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed updated fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks. A 60-day public comment period will follow the proposal’s publication. The NHTSA’s suggested rule is intended to align with the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, particularly in marginalized communities. It proposes various improvements, including a 2% annual fuel efficiency increase for cars and 4% […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of May 01, 2023
LNG Infrastructure: FERC Approves Two LNG Projects in Brownsville, Texas ⚡
On Friday, April 21, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorized the construction and operation of two major liquid natural gas projects proposed by LNG companies in Brownsville, Texas. In their first order, FERC found the LNG project proposed by Rio Grande LNG to be consistent with the public interest and in compliance with the commission’s analysis of environmental justice impact. Similarly, in their second order, FERC found that the project proposed by Texas LNG, after taking into account the social cost of carbon and the potential […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of October 31, 2022
Climate Change: Appeals Court Rules States Lack Standing to Challenge Interagency Working Group Social GHG Estimates ⚡
On October 21, 2022, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion affirming dismissal of a lawsuit by a coalition of states, led by Missouri, for lack of standing. Missouri, et al. v. Biden, et al., Case No. 21-3013. The court ruled that the states’ requested injunction against an Interagency Working Group’s Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases estimates is outside federal courts’ jurisdictions, as the states could not “plausibly allege…concrete and particularized actual injury…fairly traceable to defendants’ conduct.” […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of September 19, 2022
Oil and Gas Leasing: Judge Orders Reinstatement of Drilling Permit for Solenex on Blackfeet Nation Lands ⚡
On September 9, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a memorandum opinion, finding that the Secretary of the Interior did not have authority to rescind an oil and gas lease which the Interior Department had previously granted to Solenex for leasing and drilling in the Badger-Two Medicine area in Montana (land sacred to the Blackfeet Nation). Solenex v. Haaland, et al., Civil Case No. 13-993 (RJL). The court also found that the Secretary acted arbitrarily and capriciously in […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of August 22, 2022
Pipelines: Federal Judge Rules Enbridge Case Must Remain in Federal Court ⚡
On August 18, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division denied the State of Michigan’s motion to remand the case to state court in its lawsuit seeking to stop Enbridge’s Line 5 Pipeline. Nessel v. Enbridge Energy Ltd. P’ship, Case No. 1:21-cv-1057. The court found that there were “important federal interests” involved in the case and that “comprehensive and efficient administration of justice” required the case to remain in federal court. The case was originally filed in Michigan state court but was […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of June 13, 2022
Hydraulic Fracturing: Ninth Circuit Grants Summary Judgment Against Federal Agencies in Offshore Drilling Case ⚡
On June 3, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment to environmental groups, the State of California, and the California Coastal Commission (together, “plaintiffs”) in their lawsuit against federal agencies including the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (together, “defendants”). Environmental Defense Center, et al. v. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, et al., No. 19-55526. The Ninth Circuit held that the defendants “violated environmental […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of June 6, 2022
Municipal Regulation: PA Senate Bill on Utility Regulation Proceeds to House for Consideration ⚡
On May 25, 2022, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Local Government Committee approved SB 275 for full consideration by the House. SB 275 would amend Title 53 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes and prohibit municipalities from adopting restrictions against or discriminating against utility service providers on the basis of the type of energy provided. SB 275 would also prohibit municipalities from adopting policies which interfere with an individual’s ability to use the services of a utility service provider that is “capable and authorized.” Sen. Gene Yaw, […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of November 29, 2021
Public Lands: Interior Review of Oil and Gas Leasing Programs Finds Failures to Provide a Fair Return
On November 26, 2021, the Department of the Interior (DOI) released a report critiquing the functioning of the federal government’s onshore and offshore leasing programs. The report specifically condemned the leasing programs’ financial operations, suggesting that the royalty rates for leasing on public lands be increased, and that the bonding levels should likewise be increased. The report was requested by President Biden as part of Executive Order 14008 and it was based on studies previously conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of November 22, 2021
Pipelines: Bridger Pipeline, LLC Agrees to Pay $2 million to Montana in Natural Resources Damages Caused by Pipeline Spill Incident
On November 17, 2021, the United States and the state of Montana filed a lawsuit against Bridger Pipeline, LLC, the owner of the Poplar Pipeline, seeking recovery of damages for injury caused by a pipeline break and spill into the Yellowstone River in January 2015. USA, et al. v. Bridger Pipeline, LLC, USDC Montana, No. 1:21-cv-122. The same day, the parties agreed to settle the dispute through the payment of $2 million to Montana. A press release from […]
