Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Institution
Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Oil & Gas Industry: Failing To Properly Regulate Hydraulic Fracturing & Placing Profits Over Safety, Ellery Gordon
The Oil & Gas Industry: Failing To Properly Regulate Hydraulic Fracturing & Placing Profits Over Safety, Ellery Gordon
The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law
This Note will evaluate the regulations and environmental implications surrounding hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” on state, federal, and Indian lands, focusing on the recent and still undecided case of Wyoming v. United States Dep’t of the Interior. Additionally, it will address the regulatory gap in federal regulations governing hydraulic fracturing, the current issues the industry faces, and advocate for a more stringent set of regulations that ought to be applied on a uniform basis throughout the United States. In the aforementioned case, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, Utah, and the Ute Indian Tribe brought suit against the Bureau of Land Management …
Wyoming V. Zinke, Jaclyn Van Natta
Wyoming V. Zinke, Jaclyn Van Natta
Public Land & Resources Law Review
In Wyoming v. Zinke, the Bureau of Land Management attempted to update a regulation governing hydraulic fracturing from the 1980s, but oil and gas industry companies opposed, and brought suit. The district court held in favor of the industry petitioners, and the Bureau of Land Management and citizen group intervenors appealed. In the wake of appeal, Donald J. Trump became President of the United States. The administration change caused the Bureau of Land Management to alter its position and align with the new administration. Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, via executive order, began rescinding the new fracking regulation, …
Defenders Of Wildlife V. Zinke, Jacob R. Schwaller
Defenders Of Wildlife V. Zinke, Jacob R. Schwaller
Public Land & Resources Law Review
Wyoming was the final holdout of protections for wolves under the Endangered Species Act, and a recent decision by the United States Circuit for the District of Columbia has finally overturned those protections. After years of court battles, this decision marks the final adjudication removing federal protections, and places the management of the wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Area back in the hands of the states surrounding Yellowstone National Park. Complete deference to state regulatory systems may be a new trend in the adjudication of cases under the ESA, and this case could have significant impacts on future deference given …
Wyoming V. United States Department Of The Interior, Arie R. Mielkus
Wyoming V. United States Department Of The Interior, Arie R. Mielkus
Public Land & Resources Law Review
Responding to an overpopulation of wild horses on the BLM lands in the state, Wyoming sued the Secretary of the Interior and the BLM for failure to manage the excess numbers. Wyoming’s claim, based on the Wild Horses and Burros Act and Administrative Procedure Act, jumped the gun by bringing it before the BLM made its determination that removal was necessary to manage the overpopulation.
Wildearth Guardians V. Jewell, 738 F.3d 298 (D.C. Cir. 2013), Ross Keogh
Wildearth Guardians V. Jewell, 738 F.3d 298 (D.C. Cir. 2013), Ross Keogh
Public Land & Resources Law Review
As part of a comprehensive strategy to keep coal “in the ground,” environmental plaintiffs challenged the BLM’s leasing of federally owned coal tracts in the Powder River Basin in 2010 on climate change grounds. WildEarth Guardians was the first suit to reach a federal circuit court, where the District of Columbia Circuit Court affirmed that the BLM’s environmental analysis of the climate change impacts of the leased coal was adequate under NEPA. Notably, in reversing the district court, the circuit court found that the plaintiffs had procedural standing.
Cloud Foundation, Inc. V. Salazar, Maxwell Kirchhoff
Cloud Foundation, Inc. V. Salazar, Maxwell Kirchhoff
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia found that the BLM and Forest Service did not act arbitrarily and capriciously when they maintained and extended a boundary fence and decided not to expand a wild horse and burro range. The court also held the BLM used reasoned decision making when it determined a target horse and burro population in a herd management plan. Additionally, a National Environmental Policy Act claim was defeated under the “capable of repetition yet evading review” exception to the mootness doctrine.
Montana V. Wyoming: An Opportunity To Right The Course For Coalbed Methane Development And Prior Appropriation, Michelle Bryan Mudd
Montana V. Wyoming: An Opportunity To Right The Course For Coalbed Methane Development And Prior Appropriation, Michelle Bryan Mudd
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
Part I of this Article provides a brief background on the Yellowstone River Compact and the Montana v. Wyoming litigation. This part further explains the Special Master’s analysis of the CBM issue, as well as the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on improved irrigation efficiency. When viewed together, these decisions provide an important framework for determining how the parties’ regulation of CBM development should proceed. Part II then describes the magnitude of the CBM groundwater pumping issue and asserts that the posture of the Montana v. Wyoming case provides a unique opportunity not only to set Powder River Basin CBM development …
Why Waste Water? A Bifurcated Proposal For Managing, Utilizing, And Profiting From Coalbed Methane Discharged Water, Samuel S. Bacon
Why Waste Water? A Bifurcated Proposal For Managing, Utilizing, And Profiting From Coalbed Methane Discharged Water, Samuel S. Bacon
University of Colorado Law Review
The Coalbed Methane ("CBM") industry is booming throughout the Rocky Mountain West, creating a relatively clean energy alternative, much needed jobs in the region, and a deluge of water pumped from the ground in connection with CBM capture. In order to free the valuable natural gas, companies must first pump out substantial quantities of subsurface water holding the pressurized gas in place. This water varies in quality, from perfectly useful, potable water to poor-quality water with the potential to destroy the surrounding environment. Correspondingly, disposal of the pumped water varies from simply releasing it into streams surrounding the CBM pads …