US BLM moves to rescind Obama-era fracking rule [View all]
The US Department of the Interior moved quickly Thursday to rescind an Obama-era rule regulating hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands after a court declined to hear further appeals filed by Native American and environmental groups to try to keep the rule in place.
On Thursday, Interior's Bureau of Land Management released a notice of its intent to publish a final rule in the Federal Register Friday, formally stripping away the fracking rule. The rule had been scheduled to go into effect in 2015, but was never implemented because of court challenges by energy industry groups and several oil- and natural gas-producing states.
"With this final rule, the BLM is rescinding the 2015 rule because we believe it imposes administrative burdens and compliance costs that are not justified," the BLM notice said.
As part of his policy to reduce regulations on the energy industry, President Donald Trump vowed to rescind the rule, which would have updated the BLM's regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands for the first time in 30 years.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by the Indian tribes and environmental groups to have the full court hear their appeal of a lower court's decision to reject the case.
More: https://www.platts.com/latest-news/natural-gas/houston/us-blm-moves-to-rescind-obama-era-fracking-rule-10129834
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