Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority v. U.S. Department of the Interior

At least two lawsuits were filed in the federal district court for the District of Alaska challenging the Biden administration’s December 2024 decision authorizing oil and gas leasing on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). In one lawsuit, Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority (AIDEA)—which was awarded seven leases in early January 2021 that the Biden administration ultimately canceled in 2023—asserted that the record of decision (ROD) issued in December 2024 did not comply with the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which required the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to establish a “competitive” oil and gas program on the ANWR Coastal Plain. In addition, AIDEA asserted violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). AIDEA also asserted that the ROD was arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion and asked the court to compel BLM to conduct a lease sale that includes at least 400,000 acres of area not already leased and to remove all unnecessary restrictions on the leased area as had been done in the earlier lease sale. The <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/case/alaska-v-us-department-of-the-interior/">other lawsuit</a> was filed by the State of Alaska.