Description: Lawsuit challenging federal defendants' decision to hold an offshore oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Friends of the Earth v. Haaland
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 01/24/2023 Amicus Brief Download Amicus brief filed by states in support of appellees Friends of the Earth et al. and affirmance. 01/11/2023 Reply Download Reply brief filed by appellants American Petroleum Institute and State of Louisiana. 08/17/2022 Letter Download Letter filed by the Department of Justice regarding enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act. 06/13/2022 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by amicus curiae BP Exploration & Production Inc. supporting intervenors-defendants-appellants. 06/13/2022 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by Chevron U.S.A. Inc. as amicus curiae in support of intervenor-appellant and reversal. 06/13/2022 Amicus Brief Download Amici curiae brief filed by EnerGeo Alliance and National Ocean Industries Association. 06/13/2022 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by amicus curiae Shell Offshore Inc. in support of defendant intervenors-appellants. 06/13/2022 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by Montana and 13 other states as amici curiae in support of appellants. 06/13/2022 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by amicus curiae Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America in support of appellants and reversal. 06/10/2022 Notice of Intent Download EnerGeo Alliance and National Ocean Industries Association filed notice of intent to to file amici curiae brief in support of defendant intervenors-appellants. 06/10/2022 Notice of Intent Download Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America filed notice of intent to file amicus curiae brief in support of appellants and reversal. 06/06/2022 Brief Download Brief filed by American Petroleum Institute. 06/06/2022 Brief Download Brief filed by State of Louisiana. 03/08/2022 Order Download Emergency motion to expedite denied and motion to dismiss referred to the merits panel. The D.C. Circuit denied American Petroleum Institute's emergency motion to expedite the appeal because all parties agreed that the U.S. Department of the Interior could still award leases pursuant to the lease sale if the D.C. Circuit reversed the district court’s vacatur of the lease sale. The court also referred to the merits panel a motion to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction by Friends of the Earth and the other appellees. 03/01/2022 Reply Download Reply filed by plaintiffs-appellees in support of motion to dismiss. 02/28/2022 Response Download Response to plaintiffs-appellees' motion to dismiss filed by federal defendant-appellees. 02/22/2022 Reply Download American Petroleum Institute filed reply in support of motion to expedite and opposition to plaintiff's cross-motion to dismiss. 02/18/2022 Motion Download Appellees filed combined response to intervenor-appellant's emergency motion to expedite and cross-motion to dismiss. 02/11/2022 Motion Download Emergency motion to expedite filed by American Petroleum Institute. -
Friends of the Earth v. Haaland
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 02/09/2022 Notice of Appeal Download Notice of appeal filed by intervenor-defendant State of Louisiana. 02/08/2022 Notice of Appeal Download Notice of appeal filed by intervenor-defendant American Petroleum Institute. 01/27/2022 Memorandum Opinion Download Record of decision vacated and remanded. D.C. Federal Court Vacated Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale Due to Arbitrary and Capricious NEPA Analysis. On January 27, 2022, the federal district court for the District of Columbia vacated a lease sale for oil and gas production and development on 80.8 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico. After first rejecting arguments that the case was not ripe for judicial review, the court found that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) had arbitrarily decided not to consider foreign oil consumption in its evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions of a no action alternative pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The district court noted that both the Ninth Circuit and the federal district court for the District of Alaska had previously found that the same analysis—which reached the “counterintuitive conclusion” that total greenhouse gas emissions would be higher if no lease sales took place even though the model predicted a decrease in foreign oil consumption in the absence of the lease sales—was arbitrary and capricious. In this case, the district court found that BOEM was required either to provide a quantitative estimate of downstream greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the reduced foreign consumption or to provide a more specific explanation of why it could not do so. The court also said BOEM’s argument that it could not have calculated the emissions was undercut by the inclusion of such an estimate in a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for another lease sale a few weeks after releasing the record of decision for this lease sale. In addition, the court noted that a reasoned explanation was “especially crucial where, as here, the agency has varied so dramatically in its approach over the past year”—the Trump administration announced the lease sale in January 2021, the Biden administration rescinded it after President Biden took office, and then the Biden administration issued a new Determination of NEPA Adequacy based on the same NEPA analysis and reinstated the lease sale in August 2021 (after a federal court in Louisiana enjoined the Biden administration from implementing a “pause” on new oil and gas leasing in offshore waters). The court also found that the Determination of NEPA Adequacy was procedurally defective because BOEM could not rely on it “to cure the errors in the underlying EISs” identified by the Ninth Circuit and District of Alaska unless it circulated a draft for public comment. The court rejected the plaintiff’s contentions that certain new information required preparation of a supplemental EIS, including scientific studies regarding the need to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius and “the counterproductive role of oil and gas leasing to reaching that goal,” and evidence regarding potential conflicts between the lease sale and efforts to develop offshore wind. The court found that vacatur was the appropriate remedy because “the disruptive consequences of vacatur do not outweigh the seriousness of the NEPA error in this case and the need for the agency to get it right.” 01/24/2022 Brief Download Supplemental brief filed by intervenor-defendant American Petroleum Institute. 01/24/2022 Brief Download Supplemental brief filed by Louisiana. 01/24/2022 Brief Download Supplemental remedy brief filed by plaintiffs. 01/24/2022 Response Download Response filed by defendants to court's January 19, 2022 minute order. 01/20/2022 Memorandum Opinion and Order Download Louisiana's motion to transfer denied. The court denied intervenor-defendant Louisiana’s motion to transfer the case to the Western District of Louisiana. The court found that the action could not have been brought in the Western District of Louisiana in the first instance. 01/19/2022 Order Minute order issued. The court directed the federal defendants to submit a short supplemental brief to address the following hypothetical: "In the event that the Court remands the Record of Decision, and in the event that Interior thereafter decides to move forward with Lease Sale 257 after satisfying its obligations under NEPA, would Interior necessarily have to initiate a new closed bidding process, or would it have the discretion to reprocess the prior bids that have already been received? And, to what extent would Interior's discretion be impacted by whether the remand is with or without vacatur?" The court also ordered that the plaintiffs and intervenor-defendants could submit supplemental briefs on these issues if they chose to do so. 01/18/2022 Amicus Brief Download Amicus brief filed by Chevron U.S.A., Inc. in support of defendants' and intervenor-defendants' motions for summary judgment and in opposition to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 01/15/2022 Memorandum Opinion and Order Download Chevron U.S.A., Inc.'s motion to intervene denied. The court denied Chevron U.S.A., Inc.’s motion to intervene in the suit. Chevron was “the apparent high bidder on 34 tracts” in the lease sale. The court found that American Petroleum Institute adequately represented Chevron’s asserted interests and that the timing of Chevron’s intervention would be prejudicial to the existing parties. The court instead permitted Chevron to file its proposed motion for summary judgment as an amicus brief. 12/29/2021 Order Members of Congress's motion for leave to file amicus brief in support of plaintiffs granted. 12/16/2021 Reply Download Reply brief filed by intervenor-defendant American Petroleum Institute in support of cross-motion for summary judgment. 12/16/2021 Reply Download Reply filed by defendants in support of motion for summary judgment. 12/16/2021 Reply Download Louisiana filed reply in support of cross-motion for summary judgment and opposition to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 12/15/2021 Reply Download Reply filed by Chevron U.S.A. Inc. in support of motion to intervene in support of defendants. 12/11/2021 Memorandum Opinion and Order Download Motion by American Petroleum Institute to intervene as a defendant granted. D.C. Federal Court Allowed Trade Group to Intervene to Defend Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Sale. The federal district court for the District of Columbia found that American Petroleum Institute (API) met requirements to intervene as of right in a lawsuit challenging Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Sale 257 in the Gulf of Mexico. The court found that API’s members benefit financially from oil and gas leases, that the members’ economic and regulatory interests could be impaired by the outcome of the litigation, and that existing parties—including Louisiana, which had already been granted leave to intervene—would not adequately represent API’s interests. The court denied the plaintiffs’ requests that it impose limitations on API’s intervention. 12/08/2021 Opposition Download Opposition to Chevron's motion to intervene filed by plaintiffs. 12/03/2021 Amicus Brief Download Proposed amicus brief filed by members of Congress in support of plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 12/02/2021 Response Download Response filed by defendants indicating no opposition to Chevron USA, Inc.'s motion to intervene. 11/29/2021 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Proposed motion for summary judgment and opposition to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment filed by proposed intervenor-defendant Chevron USA, Inc. 11/29/2021 Motion to Intervene Download Motion to intervene in support of defendants filed by Chevron U.S.A., Inc. 11/24/2021 Reply Download Plaintiffs filed combined opposition and reply in support of their motion for summary judgment. 11/17/2021 Amicus Motion Download Motion filed by members of Congress for leave to file amicus curiae brief in support of plaintiffs. 11/10/2021 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Proposed memorandum filed by proposed intervenor-defendant American Petroleum Institute in support of its cross-motion for summary judgment and in opposition to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 11/10/2021 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Defendants filed motion for summary judgment and memorandum in support and opposition to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 11/10/2021 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Memorandum filed in support of Louisiana's cross-motion for summary judgment and in opposition to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 10/22/2021 Reply Download Reply filed by American Petroleum Institute in support of motion to intervene. 10/20/2021 Response Download Response filed by defendants indicating no opposition to American Petroleum Institute's motion to intervene. 10/15/2021 Response Download Response filed by plaintiffs to American Petroleum Institute's motion to intervene. 10/13/2021 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Memorandum filed by plaintiffs in support of motion for summary judgment. 10/08/2021 Motion to Intervene Download Motion for leave to intervene as a defendant filed by American Petroleum Institute. 10/06/2021 Opposition Download Opposition filed by defendants to Louisiana's motion to transfer. 10/06/2021 Opposition Download Opposition filed by plaintiffs to Louisiana's motion to transfer venue. 09/27/2021 Motion Download Motion to transfer filed by intervenor-defendant State of Louisiana. 09/22/2021 Order Download Louisiana's motion to intervene granted. Federal Court Allowed Louisiana to Intervene in Environmental Groups’ Challenge to Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale. The federal district court for the District of Columbia held that the State of Louisiana could intervene as of right in environmental organizations’ lawsuit challenging the Interior Department’s decision to hold an offshore oil and gas lease sale for portions of the Gulf of Mexico. The court found that there was “sufficient doubt” about the adequacy of the federal government’s representation of Louisiana’s interests, given the litigation between Louisiana and the federal government in the Western District of Louisiana concerning the Biden administration’s “pause” on federal oil and gas leasing. 08/31/2021 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Environmental Groups Challenged Environmental Review for Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Sale. Four environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal court in the District of Columbia challenging federal defendants’ decision to hold an offshore oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. The complaint asserted claims under NEPA and the Administrative Procedure Act, alleging, among other flaws, that the NEPA analysis “incredulously asserts that burning” up to 1.12 billion barrels of oil and 4.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that would result from the lease sale “will not contribute to climate change” and will “reduce greenhouse gas emissions” compared to a no-action alternative. The plaintiffs alleged that this “irrational conclusion” was based “on the idea that foreign substitution effects would increase emissions if the U.S. did not hold a lease sale,” an assumption that the plaintiffs was not supported by available information. The plaintiffs also contended that the defendants should have updated the almost five-year-old NEPA analysis to include “new information that demonstrates additional oil and gas leasing will exacerbate the climate crisis to an extent that the Bureau did not consider in its previous NEPA analysis.” The complaint also alleged that new information revealed other risks and threats, including safety issues and harms to frontline communities and endangered species.