Western Energy Alliance v. Jewell

The court denied environmental groups’ motion to intervene, saying that the groups had not shown that their interests would be impeded by the litigation or that their interests could not be adequately represented by existing parties.

The federal district court for the District of New Mexico denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Western Energy Alliance (WEA) claiming that BLM violated the Mineral Leasing Act by failing to hold lease sales at least quarterly. The court rejected the federal defendants’ arguments that WEA had not met the requirements for associational standing, had not shown injury-in-fact, and had alleged only injuries that were not traceable or redressable. The court also concluded that WEA’s action was not an impermissible programmatic challenge.

Western Energy Alliance opposed intervention by nine conservation groups in its action in the federal district court for the District of New Mexico seeking to compel the United States Bureau of Land Management to hold quarterly federal mineral sales. Western Energy Alliance said that the groups’ request to intervene was premised on “straw man” arguments that the Alliance had not raised in the action. The Alliance said its action was focused on the narrow issue of the BLM’s ministerial obligation under the Mineral Leasing Act to conduct oil and gas lease sales at least quarterly whenever eligible lands are available, and that it was not seeking to curtail federal discretion over leasing or to limit environmental review. The Alliance said that the lawsuit therefore did not implicate an interest of the advocacy groups and that the federal defendants would adequately represent the groups’ position, and that the groups therefore were not entitled to intervene as of right. The Alliance also urged the court not to grant permissive intervention.

Nine conservation groups moved to intervene in Western Energy Alliance’s (WEA’s) action seeking to compel the Bureau of Land Management to hold quarterly federal mineral sales. In the lawsuit, WEA alleged that BLM was failing to meet the Mineral Leasing Act’s requirements for regular lease sales. The environmental groups asserted that the relief sought by WEA would harm their interests by eliminating important environmental protections on public lands and fundamentally changing the way the federal oil and gas leasing program operates. The groups seek intervention as of right, or, alternatively, permissive intervention.

Western Energy Alliance, which represents over 300 companies involved in oil and gas exploration and production, filed an action in the federal district court for the District of New Mexico asserting that the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had failed to meet the Mineral Leasing Act’s (MLA’s) requirement that lease sales for federal minerals be held at least quarterly. Western Energy Alliance asked the court to compel BLM to abandon its current leasing schedule and adopt a new schedule in compliance with the MLA. Western Energy Alliance also alleged that BLM had unjustifiably denied requests under the Freedom of Information Act. In a <a href="https://www.westernenergyalliance.org/blog/who-needs-keep-it-ground-blm%E2%80%99s-already-doing-so">blog post</a> announcing the action, Western Energy Alliance said that the lawsuit would counter the “Keep-It-in-the-Ground” movement.