[20190416]LSB10289_由于法官要求土地管理局重新考虑对气候变化的影响怀俄明州新租约下的钻井暂停.pdf

CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Drilling Under New Wyoming Leases on Hold as Judge Requires BLM to Reconsider Impacts on Climate Change April 16, 2019 A recent decision in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit has paused oil and gas exploration and production activity in certain leased areas of Wyoming and hinted at heightened requirements that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) must satisfy to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) before issuing oil and gas leases. Specifically, the decision will require BLM to conduct a more thorough review of the potential climate change impacts of certain oil and gas leases before allowing the lessees to conduct drilling operations. The decision addresses five oil and gas lease sales for areas in Wyoming between May 2015 and August 2016 that resulted in BLM issuing 282 leases. BLM had determined that the lease sales did not require it to issue an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which is a detailed evaluation of a federal action that NEPA and its implementing regulations require for any federal action that will “significantly