Louisiana v. Biden
| Docket Number | CASE NO. 2:21-CV-00778 |
| Decision Date | 18 August 2022 |
| Citation | 622 F.Supp.3d 267 |
| Parties | State of LOUISIANA et al. v. Joseph R. BIDEN Jr. et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana |
MEMORANDUM RULING
On January 27, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. ("President Biden") signed Executive Order 140081 entitled "Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad." (hereinafter "Executive Order 14008"). Section 208 of Executive Order 14008, in pertinent part, states:
Oil and Natural Gas Development on Public Lands and in Offshore Waters. To the extent consistent with applicable law, the Secretary of the Interior shall pause new oil and natural gas leases on public lands or in offshore waters pending completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of Federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices in light of the Secretary of the Interior's broad stewardship responsibilities over the public lands and in offshore waters, including potential climate and other impacts associated with oil and gas activities on public lands or in offshore waters.
At issue in this proceeding is whether President Biden had the authority to order a stop on oil and gas activities in light of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act2 ("OCSLA") and the Mineral Leasing Act3 ("MLA"). Also at issue is whether the various Government Defendant agencies' implementation of Section 208 of Executive Order 14008 violated the Administrative Procedures Act4 ("APA").
Pending before the Court is a Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 199] filed by Plaintiff States5 and a Cross Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 209] filed by Government Defendants.6 Oppositions [Doc. Nos. 208 and 217] have been filed by Government Defendants and Plaintiff States. Replies [Doc. No. 215 and 218] have been filed by Government Defendants and Plaintiff States.
Additionally, Amici Curiae Memoranda [Doc. Nos. 213 and 214] have been filed by Conservation Groups7 in opposition to Plaintiff States' Motion for Summary Judgment and in support of Government Defendants' Cross Motion for Summary Judgment.
For the reasons set forth herein, Plaintiff States' Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, and Government Defendants' Cross Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.
President Biden signed Executive Order 14008 on January 27, 2021. Section 208 of Executive Order 14008 "to the extent consistent with applicable law," ordered the Secretary of the Department of the Interior to "pause" new oil and gas leases on public lands or in offshore waters pending the completion of a comprehensive review of Federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices.
The offshore oil and gas leases are governed by the OCSLA. The offshore oil and gas leases are further governed by the 2017-2022 Five-Year Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The process of creating the current 2017-2022 OCSLA program began in 2014, during the Obama Administration. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management ("BOEM") published a request for information ("RFI") in the Federal Register, 79 Fed. Reg. 34349, and sent a letter to all governors, tribes and interested federal agencies.8
A Draft Proposed Program9 was published in 2015. The publication of the program started a sixty-day comment period in which BOEM received over one million comments. Thereafter, BOEM published the Proposed Final Program in November 2016. The Final Program was approved on January 17, 2017. The Final Program scheduled ten (10) lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and one (1) lease sale in Alaska in the Cook Inlet. The lease sales were scheduled with one sale in 2017, two sales in 2018, two sales in 2019, two sales in 2020, two sales in 2021, and one sale in 2022.10 Of particular significance herein is Lease Sale number 257 in the Gulf of Mexico, and Lease Sale number 258 in the Alaskan Cook Inlet.
Congress passed the OCSLA more than seventy years ago.11 The policy behind the act was to declare that "the subsoil and seabed of the outer Continental Shelf" ("the Shelf") are subject to the jurisdiction, control, and power of disposition of the United States. 43 U.S.C. § 1332(1). The OCSLA establishes the Shelf as "a vital national resource reserve held by the Federal Government for the public." Id. at § 1332(3). It mandates the Secretary of the Interior ("the Secretary") to make this national resource reserve subject to expeditious, orderly development, and environmental safeguards. Id. This is known as the expeditious development policy.12
To facilitate this expeditious development of the Shelf, the OCSLA contains a four-step process that the Secretary must follow in order to administer a leasing program that sells exploration interests in portions of the Shelf to the highest bidder.1 43 U.S.C. §§ 1334(a); 1337(a)(1). The Secretary must (1) create a Five-Year Leasing Program, (2) hold lease sales, (3) grant or deny exploration permits and plans, and (4) grant or deny final development and production plans. Hornbeck Offshore Servs., L.L.C. v. Salazar, 696 F. Supp. 2d 627 (E.D. La. 2010).13 The Five-Year Leasing Program is subject to procedural requirements, and the "requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") and Endangered Species Act ("ESA") must be met before a lease sale can be held." 43 U.S.C. §§ 1344(c)-(d); 1337; Sec'y of the Interior v. California, 464 U.S. 312, 338, 104 S.Ct. 656, 78 L.Ed.2d 496 (1984).
The Secretary is responsible for regulating any lease issued under the OCSLA, and he may regulate provisions for suspension or prohibition of any operation on the Shelf, cancellation of leases, assignments of leases, subsurface storage of oil and gas, drilling, prompt and efficient exploration, etc. 43 U.S.C. § 1334(a). Issuance and continuation of leases will be determined by compliance with the Secretary's regulations. Id. at § 1334(b). The specific leases that are granted to the highest bidder include: "any oil and gas lease on the submerged lands of" the Shelf, sulphur leases, and other mineral leases. Id. at §§ 1337(a), (i), (k). The biddings on an oil and gas lease will be sealed and can be based on one of several options laid out within the statute. Id. at §§ 1337(a)(1)(A)-(I). Once an oil and gas lease is issued, it must meet certain requirements dictated within the statute, including covering an "area not exceeding 5,760 acres," being for an initial period of five years, absent a specific need, and entitling "the lessee to explore, develop, and produce the oil and gas contained within the lease area." Id. at § 1337(b).
Under the OCSLA, any United States agency or person authorized by the Secretary may conduct geological and geophysical explorations of the Shelf as long as it does not interfere with operations under an OCSLA lease, or harm aquatic life. Id. at § 1340(a)(1). To conduct oil and gas exploration, the lessee must submit an exploration plan for approval, and the Secretary must approve the plan within thirty days of submission, absent any reason for cancelling the lease. Id. at § 1340(c). The exploration plan must include a schedule of the anticipated exploration activities, a description of the equipment to be used, the location of each well, and other pertinent information. Id. at § 1340(c)(3).
An oil and gas lessee must submit a development and production plan for approval prior to any development or production under said lease. Id. at § 1351(a)(1). The plan must describe the specific work to be done, a description of all facilities and operations to be related to the development, the environmental safeguards to be implemented, all safety standards to be met, an expected schedule of production, and other relevant information. Id. at § 1351(c). There must also be a detailed statement describing all facilities and operations to be constructed or used in the development or production of oil and gas from the lease. Id. at § 1351(a)(2). After receipt of this plan, the Secretary must make the plan public within ten days,14 receive comments and recommendations,15 and approve or disprove the plan within sixty days.16 The Secretary may disapprove a plan or require modifications for several reasons, but the lessee may reapply.17
The Secretary must follow strict regulations for the Shelf Five-Year leasing program. Id. at § 1344. After submission of the original leasing program, the Secretary must maintain an oil and gas leasing program that contains a schedule of proposed lease sales and the size, timing, and location of leasing activity for the next five-year period. Id. at § 1344(a). The Secretary must review the program every year to consider possible revisions. Id. at § 1344(e). He must also maintain the program in compliance with certain statutory principles and revise accordingly. Id. at §§ 1344(a)-(b). The Secretary must consider suggestions from governors of affected states and interested federal agencies and submit the program to Congress. Id. at §§ 1344(c)-(d).
Any OCSLA lease holder must maintain compliance with occupational safety and health standards and environmental regulations.
Id. at § 1348(b). The Secretary will enforce safety and environmental regulations and conduct onsite inspections to maintain compliance. Id. at § 1348(c). The lease holders must maintain all places of employment or areas covered by the leases in compliance with regulations, maintain all operations in compliance with regulations, and allow prompt access to any inspector. Id. at § 1348(b). The OCSLA lease holders must also comply with regulations regarding the access to oil and gas information. Id. at § 1352. The required information and data collected by a lessee's activities are to be properly transmitted and provided to the Secretary.18
If there is any violation of an OCSLA provision, a civil action may be instituted to enforce the appropriate penalty. Id. at. § 1350. These...
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