|
The
suit is the latest dispute between the oil and gas industry and
the administration of President Joe Biden over leasing federal
lands and waters for energy development.
Biden paused federal drilling auctions shortly after taking
office in 2021 as part of his climate change agenda, but the
year-old Inflation Reduction Act requires that the government
hold the Gulf of Mexico lease sale planned for next month.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court for the Western District of
Louisiana, comes after the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management on Wednesday finalized plans to conduct the
lease sale. The final sale notice included new restrictions on
development meant to protect the endangered Rice's whale.
"Today we're taking steps to challenge the Department of the
Interior's unjustified actions to further restrict American
energy access in the Gulf of Mexico," American Petroleum
Institute Senior Vice President and General Counsel Ryan Meyers
said in a statement.
The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
The new lease stipulations removed more than 6 million acres
(2.4 million hectares) originally intended to be offered at the
auction and require vessel operators maintain a vigilant watch
for the whales and abide by speed restrictions in the whale's
habitat.
API argued that the changes were unjustified and unlawful.
The changes stem from an agreement earlier this month between
federal agencies and environmental groups that sued in 2020
alleging the government did not provide adequate safeguards for
the whales. That lawsuit is now paused.
Lease Sale 261 will be held on Sept. 27 and will offer
approximately 12,395 blocks on approximately 67 million acres
(27 million hectares) on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in the
Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas in the Gulf of
Mexico.
(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Nichola Groom; Editing by Michael
Perry)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
