Federal Oil and Gas Leases: Offshore Leasing Program; Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act

摘要

In August 2005 the U.S. Department of Interior begins the phased process of identifying areas within the Outer Continental Shelf to be potentially offered for oil and gas leasing and development between 2007 and 2012. This five-year leasing program includes federal lands in the Beaufort, Bering, and Chukchi Seas off the coast of Alaska. The Secretary of Interior approves the program resulting in a challenge by the Center for Biological Diversity (the "Center"). The Center challenges Interior's compliance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the process of developing the leasing program. The leasing program is the first step in a four-step process that may lead to oil and gas leasing, exploration, and development on the identified federal lands. The disputes between Interior and the Center relate primarily to whether Interior must evaluate certain environmental issues as it embarks on the first phase of its leasing program. In this regard, the court holds that the NEPA and ESA claims are not "ripe" for consideration at this first phase of agency action. The court finds that the Center's OCSLA claims are ripe for review and holds the Center's climate change and lack of baseline data claims lack merit. However, the court holds that Interior failed to engage in a proper "environmental sensitivity" ranking of the offshore areas to identify the "most and least sensitive to OCS activity." The court vacates Interior's leasing program and remanded it to Interior for reconsideration.