Description: Challenge to the Converse County Oil and Gas Project in Wyoming's Powder River Basin.
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Powder River Basin Resource Council v. U.S. Department of the Interior
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 09/07/2022 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Environmental Groups Challenged 5,000-Well Oil and Gas Development Project in Wyoming. Two environmental groups filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Columbia challenging the Converse County Oil and Gas Project, which the plaintiffs alleged would involve development of 5,000 oil and natural gas wells in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin over a period of 10 years. The plaintiffs asserted claims under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA), and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The complaint alleged that the defendants violated the MLA, FLPMA, and APA by failing to mitigate greenhouse gas and other air pollutant emissions. The complaint also alleged that the environmental review for the project violated NEPA by, among other things, failing to quantify the project’s cumulative greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts when combined with other reasonably foreseeable future actions and failing to consider reasonable alternatives that would reduce key impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions.