A federal district judge in Wyoming has temporarily delayed the US Bureau of Land Management's implementation of its recently issued hydraulic fracturing regulations, effectively delaying start of the updated rules.
In June, US District Judge Scott W. Skavdahl issued a stay to give the US Department of the Interior agency until July 22 to submit a full administrative record in legal challenges by four states and two independent oil and gas producers' associations.
In July, Skaydahl authorized a motion giving BLM until Aug. 28 to provide a full administrative record. Court observers said it will be September before Skaydahl rules whether to grant a permanent injunction.
Skavdahl previously said he would try to make a ruling within 2 weeks of getting updated briefs from the federal government, the states, and two trade associations. All parties have 7 days to file updated briefs after the government provides the full administrative record to the court.
Meanwhile, BLM is consulting with the US Department of Justice about Skavdahl's decision, a BLM spokesman said.
"While the matter is being resolved, BLM will follow the court's order and will continue to process applications for permits to drill and inspect well sites under its preexisting regulations," he said.
Background details
DOI issued its final rule for fracturing regulations on onshore public and Indian tribal lands earlier this year (UOGR May/June 2015, p. 10).
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R) directed the attorney general's office to petition for review of final agency action in US District Court for Wyoming on Mar. 26. Colorado, North Dakota, and Utah subsequently joined the action (UOGR May/June 2015, p. 12).
The Independent Petroleum Association of America in Washington and Western Energy Alliance in Denver also initiated legal proceedings.
Skavdahl said the arguments have merit, but stayed his final decision until BLM could submit the administrative record, WEA said.
"BLM was ill-prepared to implement an extremely complex rule in a short period of time," said Kathleen Sgamma, WEA's vice-president of government and public affairs.
"We highlighted how the BLM Washington Office has not given sufficient guidance to the state and field offices that are implementing the rule, and as a result they were issuing confused instructions to companies on how to comply," she said. "The judge agreed that it makes no sense to implement an ill-conceived rule which could ultimately be overruled in court."
In Washington, US House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) called BLM's regulation "a rule based on fear not facts that favors Washington bureaucracy over progress and science."
