Description: Challenge to United States Bureau of Land Management’s final rule concerning methane emissions from oil and gas operations on federal and tribal lands.
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Wyoming v. United States Department of Interior
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 10/08/2020 Order Download Waste Prevention Rule vacated except with respect to specified severable provisions. Wyoming Federal Court Vacated 2016 Waste Prevention Rule. The federal district court for the District of Wyoming vacated the bulk of the Waste Prevention Rule promulgated during the Obama administration, holding that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) exceeded its authority and acted arbitrarily and capriciously. The Waste Prevention Rule was intended “to reduce waste of natural gas from venting, flaring, and leaks during oil and natural gas production activities” on federal and tribal lands and to clarify “when produced gas lost through venting, flaring, or leaks is subject to royalties.” In 2019, the Wyoming federal court stayed these proceedings challenging the Waste Prevention Rule while a challenge to the Trump administration’s repeal of the rule was pending in the federal district court for the Northern District of California. After that court vacated the repeal in July 2020, the Wyoming federal court lifted the stay. In its order vacating all but two provisions of the Waste Prevention Rule, the court concluded that “a principal purpose and intent” of the rule was to “curb air emissions” and that the Mineral Leasing Act did not delegate authority to the Secretary of Interior to promulgate rules “justified primarily upon the ancillary benefit of a reduction in air pollution, particularly when considered in light of historical context and the comprehensive regulatory structure under the Clean Air Act.” The court also found that BLM acted arbitrarily and capriciously by failing to consider the rule’s impacts on marginal wells, failing to explain and identify support for the rule’s capture requirements, and failing to separately consider the rule’s domestic costs and benefits. 09/04/2020 Reply Download Reply brief filed by industry petitioners. 09/04/2020 Reply Download Reply brief filed by petitioner-intervenor states North Dakota and Texas. 09/04/2020 Reply Download Reply filed by Wyoming and Montana in support of petition for review. 08/18/2020 Brief Download Supplemental merits response brief filed by federal respondents. 07/21/2020 Order Download Motion to lift stay granted. Wyoming Federal Court Restarted Challenge to 2016 Waste Prevention Rule. Five days after a federal district court in California vacated a 2018 rule repealing BLM's 2016 waste prevention rule, four states (North Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, and Montana) moved to lift a stay on litigation challenging the 2016 rule in the federal district court for the District of Wyoming. The Wyoming court granted the motion the following day and ordered the parties to propose an expedited merits briefing schedule premised on completion of briefing by September 4, 2020. 07/20/2020 Memorandum Download Memorandum filed by North Dakota and three other states in support of joint notice of resolution of related litigation and motion to lift stay. 04/30/2018 Order Download Stay pending appeal denied. Wyoming District Court Denied Stay Pending Appeal of Order Delaying Waste Prevention Rule Provisions. On April 30, 2018, the district court denied the motion by California, New Mexico, and citizen groups, who had intervened to defend the Waste Prevention Rule, for a stay pending appeal. The court found that the intervenors were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their appeal because the court had acted within the “broad discretionary authority” conferred by Section 705 of the Administrative Procedure Act “upon a reviewing court to preserve the status quo where irreparable injury would otherwise result.” The court also found that the intervenors had overstated the harm that would result from the stay of the Waste Prevention Rule’s phase-in provisions and that the public interest was best served by a stay of those requirements. 04/17/2018 Reply Download Joint reply submitted in support of motion for a stay pending appeal. 04/16/2018 Response Download Response filed by Wyoming and Montana in opposition to motion for a stay pending appeal. 04/16/2018 Response Download Industry petitioners filed response to respondent-intervenors' motion for a stay pending appeal. 04/16/2018 Response Download Federal respondents filed response to respondent-intervenors' motion for a stay pending appeal. 04/06/2018 Motion Download Joint motion for a stay pending appeal filed by respondent-intervenor citizen groups and states. Environmental Groups, California, and New Mexico Sought to Lift Stay on Waste Prevention Rule Requirements in Wyoming District Court and Tenth Circuit. Environmental groups and two states (California and New Mexico) that intervened on behalf of the federal respondents to defend the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Waste Prevention Rule appealed a Wyoming federal district court’s order staying implementation of the rule’s “phase-in provisions.” They moved in the Tenth Circuit for a stay pending appeal and also asked the district court to stay its order pending appeal; they argued that their members and citizens would suffer irreparable harm “from the irreversible loss of publicly-owned natural gas and associated emissions of harmful air pollution” and that the court was without authority to enjoin the regulations without having determined that the rule’s challengers had met the four prerequisites for a preliminary injunction. Two states (Wyoming and Montana) and industry groups challenging the rule, as well as the federal respondents, opposed the motion for stay pending appeal. 04/06/2018 Notice of Appeal Download Notice of appeal filed by respondent-intervenor states. 04/05/2018 Notice of Appeal Download Notice of appeal filed by citizen group respondent-intervenors. 04/04/2018 Order Download Order issued staying implementation of rule provisions and staying action pending finalization of revision rule. After California Federal Court Stopped BLM from Postponing Effective Dates of Waste Prevention Rule, Wyoming Federal Court Stayed Rule’s Implementation. On April 4, 2018, the federal district court for the District of Wyoming stayed implementation of “phase-in provisions” of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Waste Prevention Rule and stayed the pending actions challenging the Rule pending BLM’s finalization of a revised rule. The Waste Prevention Rule, adopted by the Obama administration in 2016, restricts the venting and flaring of methane associated with oil and gas development on public and tribal lands. In December 2017, the Wyoming federal court stayed challenges to the Rule, citing BLM’s suspension of certain effective dates and BLM’s ongoing reconsideration and review of the Rule. In February, the federal district court for the Northern District of California enjoined enforcement of BLM’s suspension of the effective dates. On March 7, the Wyoming federal court lifted its stay and ordered briefing on three pending motions: one to establish an expedited schedule for merits briefing, one to suspend implementation of certain provisions of the Waste Prevention Rule, and one to grant a preliminary injunction or vacatur of certain provisions of the rule. In its April 4 order, the Wyoming federal court noted that BLM’s proposed revisions to the Rule would substantially change the phase-in regulations that were at the “heart” of this litigation and that “[t]o force temporary compliance with those provisions makes little sense and provides minimal public benefit, while significant resources may be unnecessarily expended.” The court said that “to preserve the status quo, and in consideration of judicial economy and prudential ripeness and mootness concerns,” a stay of the phase-in provisions and the challenges to the Rule while BLM completed its rulemaking was the “most appropriate and sensible approach.” 03/23/2018 Reply Download Reply filed by North Dakota and Texas in support of motion to lift stay and establish expedited schedule for further proceedings. 03/23/2018 Reply Download Reply filed by trade groups in support of motion for preliminary injunction or vacatur of certain provisions. 03/23/2018 Reply Download Reply filed by Montana and Wyoming in support of request in support of immediate suspension of implementation deadlines. 03/16/2018 Response Download Response to pending motions filed by respondent-intervenor citizen groups. 03/16/2018 Response Download Opposition to pending motions to suspend implementation or for preliminary injunction or vacatur filed by respondent-intervenor states. 03/14/2018 Response Download Federal respondents submitted response to motions to lift stay and for other relief. 03/12/2018 Order Download Court issued order on request for clarification. 03/07/2018 Order Download Order issued lifting stay and setting briefing schedule for pending motions. 03/07/2018 Request Download North Dakota and Texas filed request for clarification of court's order lifting stay. 03/02/2018 Response Download North Dakota and Texas filed response to motions to lift December 2017 stay. 02/28/2018 Motion Download Motion filed by Western Energy Alliance and the Independent Petroleum Association of America for preliminary injunction or vacatur of certain provisions of the rule pending administrative review. In addition, two trade groups asked the Wyoming court either to bar BLM from enforcing the Waste Prevention Rule’s core provisions or to exercise its equitable powers to vacate the core provisions until BLM completed its rulemaking process. 02/28/2018 Motion Download Motion filed by Wyoming and Montana to life stay and suspending implementation deadlines. Montana and Wyoming filed a motion seeking to lift the stay and also seeking immediate suspension of the implementation deadlines. 02/26/2018 Motion Download Joint motion filed to lift stay and establish expedited schedule for further proceedings. North Dakota and Texas Asked Wyoming Court to Expedite Review of Oil and Natural Gas Waste Prevention Rule. A few days after a California federal court issued an order enjoining enforcement of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's rule that suspended and delayed its Waste Prevention Rule, North Dakota and Texas asked the Wyoming federal court to lift a stay that the court had imposed in December 2017. The two states said the circumstances providing a basis for the stay (i.e., BLM’s expressed intent to change the regulations and its rule delaying the regulations’ effectiveness) no longer existed after the California court granted the preliminary injunction. The states said the Wyoming federal court should complete its review and do so on an expedited basis to prevent harm to the parties even though BLM published a proposal to revise and rescind certain requirements of the rule on February 22. 01/11/2018 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU as amicus curiae in support of respondents-intervenors and dismissal. 12/29/2017 Order Download Joint motion for stay granted. 12/11/2017 Opposition Download Opposition filed by California and New Mexico to petitioners' briefs in support of petitions for review of final agency action. 12/11/2017 Response Download Response filed by federal respondents to petitioners' merits briefs and motion to dismiss, or, in the alternative for a stay of proceedings. 10/27/2017 Declaration Download Declaration filed by economist in support of trade groups' motion for a preliminary injunction. 10/27/2017 Declaration Download Declaration filed in support of motion for preliminary injunction by president of Western Energy Alliance. 10/27/2017 Memorandum Download Memorandum filed in support of trade groups' motion for preliminary injunction. 10/27/2017 Motion Download Motion for preliminary injunction filed by trade groups. Oil and Gas Trade Groups Again Asked Wyoming Federal Court for Preliminary Injunction of BLM's Methane Waste Rule. In late October, Western Energy Alliance and Independent Petroleum Association of America filed a motion for preliminary injunction in the lawsuit challenging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's (BLM’s) methane waste rule in the federal district court for the District of Wyoming. The rule requires that measures be taken, beginning in January 2018, to reduce venting and flaring from oil and gas production on federal and tribal lands. The court denied an earlier motion for a preliminary injunction in January 2017. The two trade groups contended that injunctive relief was warranted because their members were suffering “increasingly immediate and irreparable harm” as the compliance deadline approached. The trade groups also argued that the rule was unconstitutional and outside BLM’s authority, and that the balance of the equities and public interest also favored an injunction. 10/12/2017 Amicus Brief Download Amicus brief filed by American Petroleum Institute in support of petitioners. 03/21/2017 Motion to Intervene Download Memorandum filed by Texas in support of motion to intervene as petitioner. 01/16/2017 Order Download Order issued denying motions for preliminary injunction. Wyoming Federal Court Expressed Concerns About BLM Methane Rule But Denied Preliminary Injunction. On January 16, 2017, a Wyoming federal court declined to issue a preliminary injunction staying the effective date of the United States Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) final rule related to the reduction of waste of natural gas from venting, flaring, and leaks during oil and natural gas production activities on federal and Indian lands. The rule went into effect on January 17, 2017. It has been identified by congressional Republicans as one of the regulations they would like to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn; the House of Representatives approved a resolution to repeal the rule on February 3, 2017. The court found that the petitioners had not shown a “clear and unequivocal right to relief” because the court was unable to conclude that the rule’s provisions “lack a legitimate, independent waste prevention purpose or are otherwise so inconsistent with the [Clean Air Act] as to exceed BLM’s authority and usurp that of the EPA, states, and tribes.” Though the court questioned whether the “social cost of methane” was an appropriate factor to consider in issuing a “resource conservation rule” pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act, the court said it could not conclude “at this point” that the rule was arbitrary and capricious. The court also found that the petitioners had not established that irreparable injury was likely. The court noted, however, that a preliminary injunction would not necessarily have been adverse to the public’s interest in resource conservation and air quality since BLM already had other waste prevention regulations in place and a preliminary injunction would “sidestep the costly implementation of duplicative and potentially unlawful regulations.” 11/28/2016 Motion Download Motion for preliminary injunction filed by states. Both sets of petitioners have asked the court for a preliminary injunction, and the court scheduled a hearing on the requests for January 6, 2017. The states argued that they would suffer “immediate sovereign and economic harm” should the rule go into effect and that BLM would experience no actual harm if the court issued a preliminary injunction. The states argued that an injunction was in the public interest because it would prevent an illegal program from taking effect and because the injunction would not harm the interest in a clean environment or cause waste of federal minerals since the states were already taking action to control emissions. 11/18/2016 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. States, Oil and Gas Groups Challenged BLM Methane Rule for Oil and Gas Operations. Two petitions were filed in the federal district court for the District of Wyoming challenging the United States Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) final rule concerning methane emissions from oil and gas operations on federal and tribal lands. BLM said that the rule would cut flaring in half, curbing waste of public resources and reducing harmful methane emissions. One petition was filed by Western Energy Alliance and Independent Petroleum Association of America; the other was filed by Wyoming and Montana. The states called the regulations “a blatant attempt by a land management agency to impose air quality regulations on existing oil and gas operations under the guise of waste prevention” and charged that BLM did not have authority to regulate. The states asserted that the regulations’ air quality controls conflicted with those established by EPA and the states under the Clean Air Act, and that the rule unlawfully attempted to take over regulation of state leases when state and federal tracts were combined through communitization agreements. The oil and gas trade groups also asserted that BLM was without authority to regulate air quality and also argued that the rule placed arbitrary limits on flaring; relied on flawed scientific, engineering, and economic assumptions and methodologies; improperly relied on EPA air quality rules; and conflicted with or usurped the primary jurisdiction of state and tribal governments. North Dakota has intervened in the state proceeding. -
Wyoming v. U.S. Department of the Interior
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 04/09/2019 Order Download Order and judgment issued dismissing appeal as moot and vacating district court order. Tenth Circuit Dismissed Moot Appeal of Order Enjoining Obama Administration’s Waste Prevention Rule. After BLM finalized a rule to replace the Obama administration’s Waste Prevention Rule for oil and gas development on public lands, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed as moot an appeal of a district court order enjoining enforcement of the Obama-era rule. The Tenth Circuit also vacated the district court’s order. The Tenth Circuit did not, however, order the district court to dismiss the challenge to the Waste Prevention Rule. The court noted that although adoption of a new rule typically moots a challenge to the rule it replaces, in this case the replacement rule removed “almost all” of the Waste Prevention Rule’s requirements, leaving some requirements in place. For this reason, the Tenth Circuit concluded that “[w]e do not see any harm in allowing the district court to decide in the first instance whether the entire case is moot.” 10/26/2018 Order Download Order issued referring motion to dismiss to merits panel. On October 26, the Tenth Circuit referred the motion to dismiss to the panel assigned to consider the merits of the appeal. 10/25/2018 Response Download Joint response filed by appellants to motion to dismiss. The environmental groups and states appealing the stay order agreed that the case was moot but argued that the Tenth Circuit should vacate the stay order to prevent the district court’s “unprecedented” expansion of judicial authority to enjoin federal regulations “from spawning any legal consequences.” The appellants also contended that the Tenth Circuit should direct the district court to dismiss the underlying petitions for review challenging the Obama administration rule. 10/11/2018 Motion Download Motion filed by federal government to dismiss appeal as moot. Citing Publication of New Regulation, BLM Filed Motion to Dismiss Appeal of District Court Order Staying Obama-Era Waste Prevention Rule. On October 11, 2018, the federal government moved to dismiss appeals of a Wyoming federal court’s stay of the effectiveness the Obama administration’s Waste Prevention Rule, which regulated oil and gas development on federal and tribal lands to reduce venting, flaring, and leaks of methane. The government argued that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s publication on September 28, 2018 of a final rule rescinding and revising requirements of the Waste Prevention Rule rendered the appeal moot. 10/01/2018 Reply Download Joint reply brief filed by appellants. 09/12/2018 Brief Download Answering brief filed by federal respondents-appellees. 09/12/2018 Brief Download Joint response brief filed by intervenor-appellees North Dakota and Texas. 09/12/2018 Brief Download Response filed by Western Energy Alliance and Independent Petroleum Association of America to appellants' joint opening brief. 09/12/2018 Brief Download Joint response brief filed by Wyoming and Montana. 07/30/2018 Brief Download Opening brief filed by appellants. On July 30, 2018, the appellants submitted their opening brief, arguing that the district court “committed an unprecedented legal error” by enjoining the rule without concluding that the rule’s challengers had satisfied the prerequisites for such relief. They also said the district court erred by invoking its authority to stay the rule “pending review” under Section 705 of the Administrative Procedure Act but then staying the litigation, which “effectively ended that review.” In addition, the appellants said the district court had acted improperly by first concluding that prudential ripeness and mootness concerns weighed against exercising Article III jurisdiction to review the rule’s merits, and then exercising such jurisdiction to stay the rule. 06/04/2018 Order Download Motions to dismiss and motions to stay denied. Tenth Circuit Allowed States and Environmental Groups to Appeal Stay of Waste Prevention Rule. In June 2018, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California, New Mexico, and environmental groups could appeal a Wyoming federal court’s order staying the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Waste Prevention Rule. The Tenth Circuit agreed with the appellants that the stay order “has the practical effect of granting an injunction,” “results in a serious, perhaps irreparable, consequence in that the environmental benefits of the Rule will not be realized,” and could be challenged only by immediate appeal. The Tenth Circuit denied, however, the appellants’ motion for a stay of the district court’s stay order. 04/20/2018 Motion Download Motion for stay pending appeal filed by citizen groups. 04/20/2018 Motion Download Motion for stay pending appeal filed by California and New Mexico. 04/16/2018 Motion to Dismiss Download Motion to dismiss for lack of appellate jurisdiction filed by Wyoming and Montana. Wyoming and Montana moved in the Tenth Circuit to dismiss the appeals of a Wyoming district court order staying the effectiveness of the Bureau of Land Management's Waste Prevention Rule. Wyoming and Montana argued that the district court’s order was not reviewable. -
Western Energy Alliance v. Jewell
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 11/15/2016 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed.