Description: Action to compel the Biden administration to carry out oil and gas leasing on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on Alaska’s North Slope.
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Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority v. Biden
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 02/22/2024 Order Download Plaintiff's motion to alter or amend and intervenor-plaintiff's motion for relief from final judgment denied. The federal district court for the District of Alaska concluded that the September 2023 cancellation of the plaintiff’s oil and gas leases for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge did not moot the case challenging the Biden administration’s 2021 moratorium on ANWR leasing program activities while supplemental environmental review was conducted. The court also rejected the plaintiff’s motion requesting that it alter or amend its August 2023 decision rejecting the plaintiffs’ challenges to the moratorium. The plaintiff had asked the court to modify the decision to “recognize that the various follow-up matters ancillary to the issuance of the leases … must be addressed by the Federal Defendants with an urgency and timeliness proportional to the statutory deadline” of December 2021 established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 for issuance of the leases. 11/21/2023 Reply Download Reply filed in support of plaintiffs' motion for relief from final judgment. 11/07/2023 Opposition Download Joint response filed by intervenor-defendants in opposition to motion for relief from final judgment. 11/07/2023 Opposition Download Response filed by defendants in opposition to plaintiffs' and intervenor-plaintiff's motion to vacate. 10/24/2023 Notice Download Plaintiff filed amended notice of filing of new lawsuit relating to lease cancellation. 10/17/2023 Motion Download Motion for relief from final judgment filed by plaintiffs and intervenor-plaintiffs. 10/17/2023 Reply Download Reply filed by plaintiffs and intervenor-plaintiff regarding motion to alter or amend summary judgment order and judgment. 09/19/2023 Opposition Download Response filed by defendants in opposition to plaintiffs and intervenor-plaintiff's motion to alter or amend. 09/19/2023 Opposition Download Joint response filed by intervenor-defendants in opposition to motion to alter or amend summary judgment order and judgment. 09/05/2023 Motion Download Motion to alter or amend summary judgment order and judgment filed by plaintiffs and intervenors-plaintiffs. 08/07/2023 Order Download Claims against federal defendants dismissed with prejudice. Federal Court Rejected Challenges to Biden Administration Moratorium on Oil and Gas Leasing in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The federal district court for the District of Alaska dismissed all claims against federal defendants in an action challenging the Biden administration’s temporary moratorium on the implementation of an oil and gas leasing program on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (Tax Act) included provisions amending the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to allow oil and gas development on the Coastal Plain, directing that at least two lease sales be conducted, and setting deadlines of December 2021 and December 2024 for those sales. The court concluded that the Tax Act only required that post-lease sale components of the oil and gas development program be completed “within a reasonable period of time,” not by a date certain. The court also concluded that the President and the agency defendants acted within their authorities under the Tax Act and other statutes. The court also rejected the plaintiffs’ contentions that the moratorium violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The court found, among other things, that the defendants provided a reasoned explanation for the change in their position as to the sufficiency of the NEPA review for the leasing program, which was initially conducted during the Trump administration. The court noted that the environmental impact statement for the program failed to consider greenhouse gas emissions estimates resulting from foreign oil consumption, which the Ninth Circuit indicated was required in a December 2020 decision. The court found that the reasons for the moratorium were “tethered to a concern about legality and judicial review and not to some unrelated concern, such as a political motivation or desire to address climate change,” even if those motivations also were present. 02/17/2022 Complaint Download Complaint in intervention filed by State of Alaska. 02/11/2022 Order Download State of Alaska's motion to intervene granted. 01/19/2022 Motion to Intervene Download Motion to intervene filed by State of Alaska. 12/08/2021 Complaint Download First amended complaint filed. 11/04/2021 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Lawsuit Filed to Compel Federal Government to Proceed with Oil and Gas Development on Alaska Coastal Plain. Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA)—which was the successful bidder for the majority of leases sold in the January 2021 oil and gas lease sale on the Coastal Plain of Alaska—filed a lawsuit in federal court in Alaska seeking to compel the Biden administration to “carry out its congressionally prescribed duties to facilitate development of the Coastal Plain’s oil and gas resources.” AIDEA asserted that President Biden’s Executive Order 13990, “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis,” which ordered a moratorium on implementation of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program, was ultra vires and that the U.S. Department of the Interior’s issuance and implementation of the moratorium violated the Administrative Procedure Act, Alaska National Interests Land Conservation Act, and Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which directed the Secretary of the Interior to conduct lease sales.