American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2017 - 14

IndustryDigest
BLM Frac Rule Dead
After 10th Circuit Ruling,
Associations Assure
DENVER-Oil and gas industry
representatives are cheering a federal
appeals court decision to dismiss
appeals to a June 2016 federal court
ruling that set aside the U.S. Bureau of
Land Management's proposed
regulations for hydraulic fracturing on
federal and Indian lands. However, press
accounts say, anti-fracturing groups also
claim victory because the court vacated
the district court's ruling that BLM
overstepped its statutory bounds.
According to the Western Energy
Alliance, on Sept. 21, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 10th Circuit dismissed
an attempt by BLM and antidevelopment groups to overturn the
Wyoming District Court ruling that
nullified the rule. The appeals court
noted that President Trump, U.S.
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke
and BLM clearly had expressed plans to
rescind the entire fracturing regulation,
rendering moot any questions about its
legal merits.
The case began in March 2015, when
the Alliance and the Independent
Petroleum Association of America filed
suit to stop the BLM frac rule, deeming
it unnecessary, duplicative and a move
that would drive independent producers
off federal lands. In June 2016, the
federal District Court of Wyoming set
the regulations aside after ruling that
BLM lacked the authority to regulate
fracturing. Under the Obama
administration, BLM appealed that
ruling, but the Trump-era BLM proposed
a rule making in July to rescind it.
"We are pleased that after today,
IPAA and the Alliance are even closer
to finally putting BLM's ill-conceived
fracturing rule to bed," relates Alliance
President Kathleen Sgamma. "As with
the royalty valuation rule that was
completely rescinded, there are some
technicalities to work through in the
short term, but just as the court
recognizes it is not worthwhile to
expend judicial resources on a rule that
is being overturned, it is clear that
implementing the rule in the short term
is likewise a waste of industry and
government resources."
Adds IPAA President and Chief
Executive Officer Barry Russell, "The
decision confirms what IPAA has
14 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

advocated all along: Dismissing the
appeal would protect independent
producers from the uncertainty of
whether it was necessary to comply
with regulations that are certain to be
revoked. All three judges ruled
unanimously that it would be a waste of
judicial resources to proceed with this
case."
However, some supporters of the
rule, including Earthjustice staff
attorney Michael Freeman, also have
claimed victory. "We are very pleased
with the court's decision," he maintains.
"The 10th Circuit vacated the lower
court's ruling, which means the rule will
take effect now. These are long-overdue
protections for our public lands, water
and public health."
But press accounts cite Sgamma
saying such reactions demonstrate
"ignorance of the basic workings" of the
legal process and mischaracterize the
ruling's implications. "There will be
some legal maneuvering between now
and when the circuit court's ruling goes
into effect, but the bottom line is that the
BLM fracturing rule is not in effect,"
Sgamma is quoted. "This
misinformation that the rule is suddenly
enforceable was yet more fake news
from environmental groups trying to
spin their defeat in court as a victory." ❒

want the court to order USFWS to set
dates by which it will determine if the
beetle's listing is warranted. The agency
has stated it expects to publish its 12month finding in December.
"It is time for USFWS to act on the
American burying beetle," asserts Dan
Naatz, senior vice president of
government relations and political
affairs at IPAA. "Since 1989, the
beetle's listing has been met with
criticism for failing to provide the
science-based evidence that ESA
listings warrant. The service has had the
time to properly review and act on our
petition, and it's time to move forward.
The economies and communities
impacted by this listing deserve it."
Margaret Byfield, executive director
of the American Stewards of Liberty,
says USFWS has prioritized the radical
environmental "sue-and-settle" agenda,
which seeks to add more species to the
ESA list, over the sound science that
proves the American burying beetle
warrants removal.
The plaintiffs say during the past 20
years in Oklahoma alone, the beetle has
cost at least $6.5 million in protection
efforts, and many land development,
agricultural, transportation, and pipeline
or utility operations have been delayed
or restricted because of its status. ❒

IPAA, Others File Suit
Over Beetle Deadline

DOE Offering $36 Million
For CO2-Capture Projects

WASHINGTON-The Independent
Petroleum Association has filed a
lawsuit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service, arguing the agency has missed
its deadline to respond to a petition
seeking to have the American burying
beetle removed from its endangered
species listing. The American Stewards
of Liberty and Osage Producers
Association joined IPAA in the lawsuit,
filed in U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Oklahoma.
IPAA says the legal action follows
its filing of a notice of intent to sue
USFWS in February for violating the
Endangered Species Act based on the
service's failure to render a timely
finding on an August 2015 petition.
Under federal regulations, the service
must reach a delisting determination
within 12 months of receiving a petition
(AOGR, October 2015, pg. 21).
Court documents state the plaintiffs

WASHINGTON-U.S. Secretary of
Energy Rick Perry has announced $36
million in federal financial assistance to
advance carbon dioxide capture
technologies. According to DOE's
Office of Fossil Energy, its "Design and
Testing of Advanced Carbon Capture
Technologies" funding opportunity will
support cost-shared research and
development projects that will continue
developing carbon capture technologies
to either the engineering scale or to a
commercial design.
"Carbon capture technologies are
one of the most effective ways we can
continue to leverage the sustainability
of our nation's fossil fuel resources
while advancing environmental
stewardship," Perry maintains. "This
funding opportunity will provide for
further innovation on methods for
capturing carbon emissions for storage
and other utilization efforts, as well as
American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2017

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