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Court Suspends BLM Waste Prevention Rule

Sierra Club NM

Commentary: CASPER, Wyo. – Today, a federal court in Wyoming has stayed an Obama-era rule to reduce wasteful leaking, flaring and venting natural gas from drilling operations on public and tribal lands while the Trump Administration reconsiders the Rule. 

The oil and gas industry and several states sued over the Rule several years ago, and the same court rejected their initial attempt to block the Rule.  After two unsuccessful efforts by the Trump Administration Bureau of Land Management to stay the Waste Prevention Rule, the industry groups and their state allies again turned to the court.  Today’s ruling orders that enforcement of key provisions of the Waste Prevention Rule be suspended until BLM finalizes a replacement rule.

The Waste Prevention Rule was enacted in 2016 after years of deliberation, more than 300,000 written comments overwhelmingly in support of the rule, and public hearings in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and North Dakota. 

"Although we are disappointed with the court's decision to temporarily suspend this commonsense safeguard, the fight for cleaner air and healthier communities is far from over," said Camilla Feibelman, Director of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club. "The Trump administration may wish to roll back this key clean air protection, but it has no legal basis for doing so, and we continue to believe that the standard must be fully enforced as written. Sierra Club and its allies are exploring all our legal options and are confident that BLM’s waste prevention rule will prevail despite today’s ruling and the Trump administration’s reckless assault on our climate and public health."-Camilla Feibelman, Director, Sierra Club - Rio Grande Chapter