Northern Alaska Environmental Center v. U.S. Department of the Interior

The federal district court for the District of Alaska rejected assertions that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was required to prepare an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment prior to issuing 2017 leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The court rejected this argument, concluding that Ninth Circuit precedent upholding issuance of leases prior to a site-specific analysis of each lease parcel was controlling. As in a <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/case/natural-resources-defense-council-inc-v-zinke/">separate case</a> decided the same day, the court held that the plaintiffs waived any claims that BLM should have supplemented its earlier review in an Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (IAP/EIS) finalized in 2012.

Five environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal court in Alaska challenging the federal decision to lease lands in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska. The plaintiffs asserted that the defendants violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) failed to prepare either an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement before conducting an oil and gas lease sale in December 2017 for approximately 10.3 million acres in the Reserve. One of the environmental groups submitted comments to BLM prior to the sale, urging the agency not to conduct further leasing until it had completed site-specific environmental analysis by taking a hard look at direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts, including contributions to climate change.