A federal judge in Wyoming has issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Department of the Interior from enforcing rules on the use of hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, saying the Bureau of Land Management lacks authority to oversee drilling activity and that such regulation should be left to the states.
United States District Court Scott Skavdahl said in his ruling that a federal agency must derive its power from Congress, but “at this point, the Court does not believe Congress has granted or delegated to the BLM authority to regulate fracking.”
The rules, which primarily focused on safety matters, were issued by Interior in March. They affected drilling only on federal and tribal lands, which account for a small portion of America’s oil and gas production. About 90% of drilling is done on state and private land, and is subject to state and local regulations.
The federal rules were criticized by oil and gas industry representatives, who said they were not needed and duplicated state regulations already in place.
Judge Skavdahl’s injunction blocks enforcement by BLM nationwide until the case is heard in his court and a ruling is issued. The trial is expected to begin by the end of this year.
Kathleen Sgamma, vice president for government and public affairs for the Western Energy Alliance, which filed the lawsuit, said, “We are overjoyed that we are finally getting relief from the courts regarding the regulatory overreach of the Obama administration.”
The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) was also a plaintiff. IPAA President Barry Russell said in a statement that the decision “is consistent with IPAA’s position that BLM’s efforts are not needed and that states are – and have for 60 years been – in the best position to safely regulate hydraulic fracturing.”
He noted that the IPAA argued in the lawsuit, that BLM’s rulemaking is “a reaction to unsubstantiated concerns,” and the organization believed the agency’s own “administrative record lacks the factual, scientific, or engineering evidence necessary to sustain the agency’s action.”
Objections to the federal rules were also filed by the states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and North Dakota, and the Ute Indian Tribe.