Center for Biological Diversity v. Haaland

To resolve a lawsuit brought by Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management agreed to conduct reviews of development and production plans (DPPs) for offshore drilling activities on the Outer Continental Shelf off Huntington Beach. CBD alleged that federal defendants had violated the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to review the DPPs for at least two decades. CBD’s complaint cited new information that showed that climate change and ocean warming impacts could affect offshore drilling platforms’ ability to withstand wave conditions. CBD also alleged that “[d]rilling off California contributes to the climate emergency.” In the settlement agreement, BOEM agreed to begin the process of reviewing the DPPs within 30 days of the dismissal of the lawsuit and said it intended to complete the review within one year. BOEM agreed to notify CBD of the outcome of the reviews upon their completion. The settlement agreement provided that CBD’s sole remedy for disputes concerning the adequacy of BOEM’s reviews is to seek administrative review or file a new lawsuit.

The federal district court for the Central District of California found that Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) adequately stated claims under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and the Administrative Procedure Act that the Secretary of the Interior, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and the BOEM Pacific Regional Director had failed to review development and production plans (DPPs) for offshore platforms established in the 1980s off Los Angeles and Orange Counties. The complaint included allegations that drilling off the California coast “contributes to the climate emergency.” The court ruled that OCSLA’s citizen suit provision permitted CBD to bring its claim for relief. The court also found that OCSLA created a discrete and mandatory duty for the Secretary of the Interior to review approved DPPs and that CBD therefore stated a claim under the Administrative Procedure Act for agency action “unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed.”

In a lawsuit filed in the federal district court for the Central District of California, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) sought to bar the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) from authorizing new oil and gas drilling activities at the Beta Unit on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf off Huntington Beach until BOEM reviews and revises development and production plans (DPPs). CBD alleged that the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) requires periodic reviews of DPPs and that BOEM had failed to review the DPPs—which had been in place for 40 years—for the Beta Unit (three drilling platforms and one processing platform) for at least two decades. CBD alleged that new information indicated that the DPPs for the Beta Unit were out of date, “increasing the numerous harms inherent in offshore drilling activities.” New information cited in the complaint included studies showing that climate change and ocean warming were increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, increasing wave power, and causing faster winds, which could affect the ability of the platforms to withstand wave conditions. The complaint also alleged that drilling off California’s coast “contributes to the climate emergency,” citing a study that found that “for each barrel of California oil left in the ground, only 0.4 to 0.8 barrels would be produced elsewhere, yielding a net reduction in global oil consumption of between 0.6 and 0.2 barrels.” CBD asserted claims under both the OCSLA and the Administrative Procedure Act.