Federal Judge Rules BLM Fracking Oversight Unlawful

摘要

In a win for the oil and gas industry and its supporters, a federal judge in Wyoming ruled Tuesday that the Department of Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) does not have the authority to enforce a rule governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public and tribal lands. In a 27-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl disagreed with the BLM’s assertion that Congress had given it broad regulatory powers under several federal statutes, and that fracking fell within its “regulatory sphere.”