Environmental Attack on Utah Oil, Gas Leases Tossed as Premature

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance lost its challenge to the Interior Department’s decision to offer 145 oil and gas leases covering more than 200,000 acres of public lands in Utah.

The alliance’s claims aren’t ripe for judicial review because the agency’s decision isn’t a final action, Judge Tena Campbell of the US District Court for the District of Utah said Tuesday.

The group claimed in the lawsuit filed in November 2023 that the approvals, which took place during the first Trump administration, lacked proper environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. Interior’s Bureau ...