American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2018 - 18

IndustryDigest
White House invited TransCanada to
resubmit its border crossing request.
The company obtained that federal
permit in March 2017. After the lower
court affirmed the commission's
decision to extend the state permit, the
groups appealed to the South Dakota
Supreme Court.
The high court's decision notes that
because it concluded the circuit court
lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal, it
did not weigh the case's merits.
In its decision, the Supreme Court
found that:
* State law limits appeals for
certification proceedings to parties
involved in the permit's issuance;
* Although the PUC accepted the
appellants' claim that appeals were
possible under the state's Administrative
Procedure Act, only the legislature is
authorized to grant such appeals; and
* The appellants contend they are
entitled to judicial review of the
commission's decision because it
violated their procedural due-process
rights affecting property and liberty
interests, but the decision involved the
utility's filing for a certificate rather
than adjudicating a party's legal rights.
"Although the commission issued an
order accepting TransCanada's
certification, nothing in the statute
required that it issue such an order," the
decision states. "Rather, the
commission's acceptance of
TransCanada's certification was an
administrative act that was part of the
commission's supervisory
responsibilities to regulate already
permitted activities." r

Federal Judge Orders
Agencies To Set Aside
National Forest Leases
SANTA FE, N.M.-Ruling in favor of
four environmentalist groups, a federal
judge has ordered the Bureau of Land
Management to set aside 13 oil and
natural gas leases covering 19,000 acres
while it reconsiders the downstream
impacts of drilling in New Mexico's
Santa Fe National Forest.
In her June 14 ruling in San Juan
Citizens Alliance v. U.S. Bureau of
Land Management and U.S. Forest
Service, Senior U.S. District Judge M.
Christina Armijo says federal
environmental law requires the
18 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

government to consider the cumulative
impacts on climate change of energy
production from federal lands. Armijo
also held that BLM did not analyze the
cumulative impacts to air, groundwater
sources and surface water quality, court
documents state.
The judge disagreed with claims that
BLM failed to adequately consider
mitigation measures or that it
improperly relied on an air resources
technical report in its analysis.
Joining the San Juan Citizens
Alliance in the lawsuit were WildEarth
Guardians, Amigos Bravos, Dine
Citizens Against Ruining Our
Environment and the Sierra Club.
In their suit, the groups allege BLM
violated the National Environmental
Policy Act by:
* Failing to consider all the
environmental impacts of oil and gas
development;
* Failing to provide a convincing
statement of reasons to justify not
preparing an environmental impact
statement; and
* Issuing leases during a pending
resource management plan amendment
and forest plan revision.
The Forest Service is accused of
violating NEPA by failing to consider
the impacts of oil and gas drilling, as
well as new information and
circumstances, the court decision says.
According to Armijo, the plaintiffs
argue BLM failed to consider the
impacts of granting leases on
greenhouse gas emissions and climate
change, air quality, water resources and
the cumulative impacts of lease
development. The federal agencies
contended the allegations ignored their
environmental assessment tiered to the
Forest Service's 2008 final
environmental impact statement and
2012 final supplement to the FEIS, both
of which they said satisfied NEPA
requirements.
"The court concludes that BLM's
failure to estimate the amount of
greenhouse gas emissions that will
result from consumption of the oil and
gas produced as a result of developing
wells on the leased areas was arbitrary.
This error also requires that BLM
reanalyze the potential impact of such
greenhouse gases on climate change in
light of the recalculated amount of
emissions in order to comply with
NEPA," Armijo writes. r

House, Senate Differ
Over ESA Provisions
WASHINGTON-A month after the
House of Representatives approved
legislation funding the U.S. military that
contained provisions restricting
endangered species listings, the U.S.
Senate passed a similar bill without
those conditions.
The House version of HR 5515, the
National Defense Authorization Act
sponsored by Representative Mac
Thornberry, R-Tx., includes language
on the greater sage grouse and lesser
prairie chicken. A rider to the bill
prohibits listing either bird under the
Endangered Species Act for 10 years,
and after that pause, requires the
Interior Department to consider all state
and federal conservation efforts before
making any ESA determinations.
Another rider to HR 5515, approved
by the House on May 24, removes the
American burying beetle's endangered
listing, and bars any judicial review of
the section of the legislation discussing
the three species.
The Senate approved its defense
authorization act on June 18 without the
ESA riders. The two versions of the
legislation were to be sent to a
conference committee to resolve
differences.
According to the Independent
Petroleum Association of America,
Representative Rob Bishop, R-Ut., is
responsible for the ESA riders. Media
reports indicate Bishop argued that they
were important to limit conservation
impacts on military activities on the 27
ranges and 19 training areas in the
western United States.
IPAA adds that attempts in previous
years to include language on the sage
grouse and prairie chicken failed
because of resistance from Senator John
McCain, R-Az., chairman of the Senate
Armed Services Committee, who
sought to limit unrelated measures in
the annual defense bills.
With Senator McCain in his home
state undergoing medical treatment,
IPAA notes Senator Jim Inhofe, R-Ok.,
will handle the military legislation.
Inhofe's office says the 2019
legislation authorizes $716 billion in
funding for the Department of Defense
and national security programs at the
Department of Energy, an increase from
last year's $700 billion authorization. r
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2018

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