California v. United States Bureau of Land Management

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

The State of California, together with the State of New Mexico, and a coalition of seventeen conservation and tribal citizens groups, brought suit against the Bureau of Land Management (the “Bureau”), Secretary of the Department of the Interior Ryan Zinke, and Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, Department of the Interior Katharine S. MacGregor (collectively, “Defendants”), alleging that Defendants violated the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”) when the Bureau published a notice in the Federal Register postponing the compliance dates for certain sections of the Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule after the rule’s effective date had already passed. Before the Court are Plaintiffs’ motions for summary judgment. For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS both motions.

I. BACKGROUND

On November 18, 2016, the Bureau, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, issued the Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule (the “Rule”). See 81 Fed. Reg. 83,008 . The Rule’s purpose was to “reduce waste of natural…