The federal district court for the District of Alaska ordered federal defendants to prepare a supplemental EIS for an offshore oil and gas lease sale in the Cook Inlet of Alaska. As a threshold matter, the court rejected the State of Alaska’s argument that the defendants could not have violated NEPA because the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) required that the sale be held; the court agreed with plaintiffs that the IRA did not limit the defendants’ discretion “so as to render NEPA inapplicable.” The court also agreed with the plaintiffs that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) improperly restricted its alternatives analysis based on its analysis of the purpose and need statement, together with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the 2017-2022 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program, to require or warrant inclusion in the lease sale of all or nearly all of the northern portion of the Cook Inlet Program Area. The court also found that BOEM failed to take a hard look at vessel noise impacts on Cook Inlet beluga whales. The court remanded the EIS and record of decision without vacatur and suspended the lease pending the preparation of the supplemental EIS. In their complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that BOEM failed to take a hard look at greenhouse gas emissions from the lease sale, but the court found that the plaintiffs waived this argument by failing to raise it in their opening brief. 

Challenge to the final environmental impact statement and record of decision for an oil and gas sale in federal waters of Cook Inlet, Alaska mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Cook Inletkeeper v. U.S. Department of the Interior

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Alaska Federal Court Ordered Preparation of Supplemental EIS for Cook Inlet Oil and Gas Lease Sale

Filed

United States of America

Alaska

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Alaska Federal Court Ordered Preparation of Supplemental EIS for Cook Inlet Oil and Gas Lease Sale

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance