On November 16, 2015, a
group of environmental organizations filed a Motion for Final Judgment or Stay
of District Court proceedings pending appeal in the case State of Wyoming, et al,. v. U.S. Department of Interior, et al..
The respondents are asking the court to consolidate its prior preliminary
injunction order with a final judgment ending the litigation on the merits or
to stay proceedings in this case so that they can appeal the preliminary
injunction order to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In September 2015, the
U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming granted petitioners’ motions
for preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the BLM rule governing
hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands. The District Court concluded
that the BLM did not receive authority from Congress to regulate hydraulic
fracturing.
In their brief in
support of the Motion, the environmental organizations alleged that “[b]ecause
of [the court’s] dispositive legal ruling, proceedings over the scope of the
administrative record, or further briefing on the merits, will very likely be
immaterial to a final judgment entered in this Court.” They also argued that
“[i]t would be a waste of the resources of the Court and the parties to pursue
further litigation [if] the Tenth Circuit [was] reviewing the Court’s
dispositive ruling that BLM lacks legal authority to adopt the rule.”
More information on
this case is available at docket no. 2:15-cv-00043.
Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow
11/18/2015
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