On June 15, 2021, Judge Terry Doughty, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, ordered new oil and gas leasing to restart in public lands and waters.[1] The move reverses President Biden’s January 2021 executive order that paused new lease sales during a review of the federal oil and gas program.[2] The review would likely include an assessment of the climate impacts of drilling for federal resources, which could lead to new restrictions on drilling in sensitive areas or higher royalty rates.
Judge Doughty’s preliminary injunction reverses Biden’s leasing pause until the court decides on the arguments in the case, allowing leasing to resume nationwide. The judge said the Department of the Interior had overstepped its authority by halting new oil and gas leasing and cited the legal requirements to offer leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. According to Judge Doughty, federal agencies could cancel or suspend specific leases if they had identified problems but could not suspend leases for a review of the leasing program. He also rejected the Biden administration’s argument that the Department of Interior’s pause on new leases is not a final agency action that could be reviewed under the Administrative Procedure Act[3]. Judge Doughty’s decision is a win for Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R), who is leading a coalition of 13 attorneys in the case against the Biden administration’s leasing pause. The attorneys argue that the leasing pause could lead to economic harm in their states. The Biden administration cannot move forward until the case is resolved or there are further orders from Doughty, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, or the Supreme Court.
[1]https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Terry%20Doughty%20June%2015%20Lease%20Sales%20Opinion.pdf
[2] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/
[3] The Administrative Procedure Act governs the way in which administrative agencies of the federal government may propose and establish regulations. The legislation gives U.S. federal courts oversight over all agency actions. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, a court can decide that a final agency action is unlawful and set aside the action if it does not fulfill the legislation’s reasoned decision-making requirement.