Rule

The Trump administration formally rescinded an Obama-era rule governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public and tribal lands on Thursday, bringing an end to nearly three years of legal wrangling that pitted four states, an Indian tribe, environmentalists and energy industry groups against each other.

Following through on plans it announced in October, the Trump administration announced that it has temporarily suspended or delayed parts of an Obama-era rule governing associated natural gas flaring and venting on public and tribal lands until January 2019.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) told a federal court in Wyoming that a decision by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to expand the definition of “waste” is untenable as it pertains to venting and flaring associated natural gas on public and tribal lands.

In a potential whiplash for the oil and gas industry, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Wednesday night that the Trump administration broke the law when it tried to indefinitely postpone an Obama-era rule governing associated natural gas flaring and venting on public and tribal lands.

Implementing a law passed earlier this year by the state legislature, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) has adopted on an emergency basis long-lateral drilling rules that apply to all oil and natural gas formations in the state, not only unconventional plays.

Lawyers for the federal government faced off against attorneys representing states and the oil and gas industry in appellate court on Thursday, for oral arguments over an embattled rule governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public and tribal lands.

Days after the Trump administration unveiled plans to repeal, review or rescind hundreds of regulations, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management added another to the pyre: its rule governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public and tribal lands.

A coalition of environmental and tribal organizations filed a lawsuit Monday over the Trump administration’s decision to indefinitely postpone an Obama-era rule governing associated natural gas flaring and venting on public and tribal lands.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday proposed rescinding the Clean Water Rule (CWR), which was designed by the Obama administration to clarify what constitutes Waters of the United States (WOTUS).