The federal district court for the District of Wyoming concluded that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) decisions not to hold oil and gas lease sales for Wyoming parcels in the second and third quarters of 2021 (Q2 and Q3 2021) were not arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, or in violation of law. The court also concluded, however, that the failure to hold a sale in the third quarter of 2022 (Q3 2022) was arbitrary and capricious and an abuse of discretion. In separate cases brought by industry trade groups, the court found that the trade groups did not have standing to challenge the failure to hold lease sales because “the lost possibility of acquiring a federal oil and gas lease” was not a redressable injury and the groups did not specifically allege that any of their members would have participated if the lease sales had occurred. In its consideration of the merits of the State of Wyoming’s challenge regarding decisions not to hold Wyoming lease sales, the court first interpreted the terms “eligible” and “available” in the Mineral Leasing Act’s provision requiring that “[l]ease sales shall be held for each State where eligible lands are available at least quarterly.” Citing Loper Bright, the court noted it was not deferring to BLM’s interpretation, but that BLM’s definition helped inform the court’s conclusion that “‘eligible’ lands are those that are not precluded from leasing by law and ‘available’ lands are those that have met all statutory requirements and reviews necessary to be leased.” For the Q2 and Q3 2021 sales, the court found that recent litigation regarding National Environmental Policy Act compliance—including regarding the sufficiency of consideration of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts in other reviews—“had drawn into question whether the eligible lands in Wyoming were ‘available’ at the time.” The court found that the administrative record supplied a basis for BLM’s decisions. Regarding Q3 2022, however, the court found that the administrative record provided no evidence to explain the decision not to hold a sale. The court directed the parties to submit supplemental briefing on the appropriate remedy.

Lawsuit challenging the federal government's failure to hold oil and gas quarterly lease sales on three occasions in 2021 and 2022.

Wyoming v. U.S. Department of Interior

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Wyoming Federal Court Issued Mixed Ruling on BLM’s Decisions to Forgo Oil and Gas Lease Sales in 2021 and 2022

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United States of America

Wyoming

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Wyoming Federal Court Issued Mixed Ruling on BLM’s Decisions to Forgo Oil and Gas Lease Sales in 2021 and 2022

Policy instrument

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance