A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday reversed a lower court’s decision which found that two 2018 lease sales by the U.S. Department of the Interior to oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico were valid.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected two arguments by environmental groups, but agreed that the agency “sidestepped” a report that contained “some evidence” which asserted potential risks.
The appeals court upheld the lower court’s finding that the Interior Department “adequately considered the option of not leasing” and also “reasonably refused to consider potential future regulatory changes.”
But it found the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) “unreasonably refused to consider possible deficiencies” in how the department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) carried out its work enforcing safety and environmental regulations to limit risks and harm to the Gulf from oil and gas operations….