On April 12, 2019, the US District Court for the Northern District of California entered an order vacating the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) repeal of the 2016 Valuation Rule due to violations of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The 2016 Valuation Rule made changes to the government’s methods for valuing oil, gas and coal produced on Federal and Indian lands. The court’s ruling on the APA claims may impact the Trump administration’s repeal and replace rulemakings that are scheduled to be finalized in the near future.
Continue Reading Decision Vacating DOI Valuation Rule May Impact Future Rulemakings

The question of whether Presidential Permit authority is constitutional and/or subject to judicial review has been and continues to be an unsettled issue.  A little more than a month after the State Department’s November 2015 denial of TransCanada’s application for a Presidential Permit to construct its Keystone XL pipeline project, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota ruled in White Earth Nation et al. v. Kerry et al. that State Department Presidential Permitting decisions are Presidential in nature and are therefore not subject to judicial review.  Approximately one month later, in January 2016, TransCanada filed two separate actions to challenge the Obama administration’s rejection of its application for a Presidential Permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.  The first action was filed in federal district court in Texas to challenge the denial of the Keystone Presidential Permit, and the second is a Notice of Intent to submit a claim to arbitration under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Continue Reading Challenging Presidential Permitting Authority

On August 5, 2012, the Western District of Oklahoma denied Sierra Club’s attempt to seek a temporary injunction to stop commencement of construction of the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline project scheduled to begin August 6, 2012.  In mid-July, Sierra Club challenged the Army Corps of Engineer’s (Corps) Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12)