Description: Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking information related to the preparation of a U.S. Department of the Interior report on federal oil and gas leasing, including the programs' impacts on climate change.
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Friends of the Earth v. Council on Environmental Quality
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 11/30/2023 Stipulation Download Stipulation of dismissal filed. After Production of Records, Friends of the Earth Agreed to Dismissal of FOIA Suit Concerning Biden Administration Review of Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Program. On November 30, 2023, Friends of the Earth (FOE) and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) agreed to the dismissal of FOE’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking records related to the preparation of a 2021 report on federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices. In January 2021, President Biden directed the U.S. Department of the Interior to conduct a review of the federal oil and gas permitting and leasing program and paused new oil and gas leasing pending completion of the review, in which the Secretary of the Interior was directed to consider whether to adjust royalties associated with extracted coal, oil , and gas resources or to take other action “to account for corresponding climate costs.” In its complaint, FOE called the resulting report “underwhelming” and alleged that it might have been “modified significantly in response to political pressure from the White House and CEQ, acting at the behest of oil-and-gas industry interests and oil-producing states.” In a joint status report submitted on November 20, the parties stated that CEQ had issued a final response to FOE’s FOIA request in January 2023 and that the parties had reached an agreement in principle after engaging in settlement discussions regarding the merits and attorneys’ fees and costs since FOE completed its review of the records produced. 11/20/2023 Status Report Download Joint status report filed. 04/25/2022 Complaint Download Complaint filed. FOIA Lawsuit Sought Records Related to Department of Interior Report on Oil and Gas Leasing. Friends of the Earth (FOE) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to compel disclosure of information that FOE alleged might reveal “potential political interference” in the preparation of a report by the U.S. Department of Interior on federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices, “including potential climate and other impacts associated with oil and gas activities on public lands or in offshore waters.” President Biden directed the Secretary of the Interior to prepare the report in his Executive Order 14008 on “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.” FOE alleged that the resulting report, released in November 2021, was “underwhelming” and entirely failed to discuss the “the federal leasing program’s causal role in accelerating climate change.” FOE alleged that it believed the report “may have been modified significantly in response to political pressure from the White House and CEQ, acting at the behest of oil-and-gas industry interests and oil-producing states.” FOE submitted a FOIA request seeking records and documents related to the report in January 2022, including communications between CEQ or the White House and other agencies and “records with trade associations of oil and gas operators/lessees.” FOE alleged that it had yet to receive any response to its request.