Biden Public Lands Rule Draws Legal Challenge From Utah, Wyoming

The Biden administration failed to weigh environmental harms in its recently finalized Public Lands Rule, Utah and Wyoming officials argued in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The two states—with large amounts of federally administered lands—argued the Interior Department should’ve seriously weighed harms as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Instead, the agency improperly categorically excluded the rule from scrutiny, the lawsuit stated.

“Interested parties of all stripes entreated BLM to take the ‘hard look’ that NEPA requires before pushing through a rule that could harm the environment,” said the lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the District ...