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Texas Blockchain Council v. Department of Energy
Texas Blockchain Council v. Department of Energy ↗
6:24-cv-00099W.D. Tex.4 entries
Filing Date
Type
Action Taken
Document
Summary
03/01/2024
Settlement Agreement
Notice of agreement filed by the parties.
On February 26, 2024, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) notified the Office of Management and Budget that it was immediately discontinuing the emergency collection of information and would instead proceed through the Paperwork Reduction Act’s notice-and-comment procedures. On March 1, the plaintiffs and defendants filed a notice memorializing an agreement that provides that EIA will destroy any information already received or received in the future pursuant to the emergency request. In addition, EIA will publish a new notice of proposed collection of information, and the plaintiffs and a proposed intervenor (Chamber of Digital Commerce) will withdraw the request for a preliminary injunction and not pursue further relief regarding the emergency collection request. The parties asked the court to stay and administratively close the case.
02/23/2024
Decision
Motion for temporary restraining order granted.
The court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) barring the defendants from collecting data and directing the defendants to sequester and not share any data already received. The court found that the plaintiffs established that irreparable injury would result without a TRO based on their allegations of nonrecoverable costs of compliance, a credible threat of prosecution for failure to comply with the information collection request, and disclosure of proprietary information. The court also found that the plaintiffs were likely to be able to show that the defendants’ support for an emergency request fell “far short of justifying such an action” and that the balance of harms favored granting a TRO.
02/22/2024
Complaint
Complaint filed.
A cryptocurrency industry group and a company that conducts bitcoin mining operations at a Texas facility filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the Western District of Texas asserting that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Office of Management and Budget violated the Paperwork Reduction Act and Administrative Procedure Act when EIA issued an information request for energy information from cryptocurrency mining companies. The plaintiffs alleged that EIA based its request for emergency approval of the information collection on a “facially absurd” contention that “public harm” would otherwise result due to potential strains on the electric grid that could result from increased energy consumption arising from mining activity and a “major cold snap.” The plaintiffs alleged that the emergency information collection request “was driven by forces outside of EIA”; they emphasized an excerpt from President Biden’s Executive Order 14067, “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets,” which expressed the U.S.’s interest in ensuring that digital asset technologies operate in a way that “reduces negative climate impacts and environmental pollution.” The complaint also cited concerns raised by certain senators and House of Representatives members regarding cryptocurrency’s impacts on climate change.