Trump Oil and Gas Policy Unlawful on Sage-Grouse Turf: Court (2)

A federal court has blocked the Trump administration from streamlining oil and gas development on nearly 2 million acres of public lands in sage-grouse territory.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho on Thursday ruled that the Bureau of Land Management didn’t go through required rulemaking procedures before issuing a 2018 “instruction memorandum” aimed at speeding up timelines for federal leases under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The ruling can be used to vacate Trump administration oil and gas lease sales that have occurred all over the U.S. since the memorandum was issued, according to Sarah Stellberg, an ...