US President Donald Trump overstepped his authority when he canceled his immediate predecessor’s withdrawals of three federal offshore areas from oil and gas leasing consideration toward the end of his second term, a federal court judge in Alaska ruled on Mar. 29.
“The court finds that Section 5 of Executive Order 13795, which purported to revoke prior presidential withdrawals of OCS lands for leasing, is unlawful, as it exceeded the president’s authority under Section 12(a)” of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, US District Judge Sharon L. Gleason said in her order.
Congress, and not Trump, has authority to override Obama’s acreage withdrawal under OCSLA, Gleason said. Her order drew immediate fire from Alaskan officials and national oil and gas associations. Environmental organizations and other offshore leasing opponents were pleased.
Randall B. Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association in Washington, said on Apr. 1 that the group calls on the Trump administration to appeal “the decision of the Obama-appointed judge” to the Ninth Circuit “and be prepared to appeal to the [US] Supreme Court if necessary.”
The Arctic and Atlantic regions of the US Outer Continental Shelf could be included in the 5-year OCS leasing program now being developed at the US Department of the Interior while higher courts review the OCS Lands Act’s language, OGJ has learned.
‘Narrow interpretation’
“The district court’s narrow interpretation is one view of the language contained in [OCSLA] and does not fully incorporate OCSLA’s 5-year planning process that allows changes based upon new resource information or energy needs of the US,” said Luthi, who oversaw federal oil and gas resource management as director of the US Minerals Management Service during President George W. Bush’s second term.
“A court with more experience and knowledge of the full breadth of the executive branch may very well come to a different conclusion,” Luthi said.
US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.), who successfully inserted a provision authorizing leasing on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain into the federal tax reduction bill that became law near the end of 2017, strongly disagreed with the ruling, which she said asserts that past presidents can bind their successors and only Congress can overturn those decisions.
This is not the correct interpretation of OCSLA “and could have catastrophic impacts for offshore development, which creates jobs, generates revenues, and strengthens our national security. I expect this decision to be appealed and ultimately overturned—if not by the Ninth Circuit, then by the Supreme Court,” Murkowski said.
“While we disagree with the decision, our nation still has a significant opportunity before us in the development of the next offshore leasing plan to truly embrace our nation’s energy potential and ensure American consumers and businesses continue to benefit from US energy leadership,” said Erik Milito, vice-president of upstream and industry operations at the American Petroleum Institute.