Environmental

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management agreed last week to rewrite a resource management plan for a large swath of California public lands, effectively barring any new oil and natural gas leasing for at least a year.

Four environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the federal government to void oil and gas leases and stop high-volume hydraulic fracturing in Ohio’s Wayne National Forest (WNF).

Sunoco Logistics Partners LP reported a small spill of ethane and propane from its Mariner East (ME) 1 pipeline earlier this month, saying on Friday that the system has been fixed.

Staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for Texas Eastern Transmission LP’s (Tetco) proposed Idle Line 1 Abandonment project [CP17-6]. FERC staff concluded that, with appropriate mitigating measures, the project would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Tetco is seeking authorization to abandon in place and by removal 165 miles of Line 1 pipeline that runs from Fayette County, OH, to Greene County, PA, that were placed into idle service in 1989, including three segments of 24-inch diameter pipeline, associated lateral lines 10-L and 10-M, metering and regulating facilities and other aboveground facilities. FERC will accept comments on the EA through May 22.

The North Dakota Legislature has carved out a new state environmental agency as a cabinet-level unit, set higher limits for spill reporting and established a safety/environmental self-auditing program for oil/natural gas operators in the state.

The Trump administration has asked an appellate court to delay a series of lawsuits over proposed rules governing new sources of methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industry, in order to give the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) time to review the rules.

A U.S. District Court judge for the District of Nevada last Friday ruled that the federal government may proceed with plans to protect the sage grouse habitat in the state after a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) on the programs is completed.

In a second appeal of court denials, an anti-oil/natural gas hydraulic fracturing (fracking) initiative from a group of Colorado teenagers gained traction last week as a three-judge panel at the state Court of Appeals supported the teenagers’ contention in a 2-1 decision that public health and environmental protections must be clearly in place before any new drilling is allowed. The ruling has no immediate impact on the state’s energy regulatory approach.

The head of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has denounced the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), revealed last week as part of a $1.6 trillion budget proposal.