Judge blocks government plan to scale back Gulf oil lease sale to protect whale species
A federal judge has ordered the Interior Department to expand next week’s scheduled sale of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases by millions of acres
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the Interior Department to expand next week's scheduled sale of of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases by millions of acres, rejecting a scaled-back plan announced last month by the Biden administration as part of an effort to protect an endangered whale species.
As originally proposed in March, the Sept. 27 sale was would have made 73 acres (30 hectares) of offshore tracts available for drilling leases. That area was reduced to 67 acres (27 hectares) in August when Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced final plans for the sale. But U.S. District Judge James David Cain Jr. in Lake Charles restored the original coverage area in a Thursday night order.
BOEM's revision also included new speed limits and requirements for personnel on industry vessels in some of the areas to be leased — also blocked by Cain's order.
BOEM had adopted the reduced area and new rules for next week's sale as part of an agreement the administration reached last month with environmentalists in efforts to settle a whale-protection lawsuit filed in federal court in Maryland.
