The Washington federal court of appeals upheld a combination of environmental organizations’ claims that the Interior Department’s assessment of the environmental sensitivity of some regions was irrational. The agency must first review its assessment before progressing with the lease sale program, mainly acreage in the Beaufort, Bering, and Chukchi Seas off the coast of Alaska.
This gives Interior Secretary Ken Salazar a legal reason to revisit these lease sales, said Peter Van Tyne, the lawyer who represented several Alaska native and environmental groups in the claim.
The American Petroleum Institute said that the decision could deal a devastating blow to the economy if the decision delayed development of domestic oil and natural gas resources.
DOI spokesman, Frank Quimby said that Interior and Department of Justice lawyers were evaluating the decision, and hadn’t yet ascertained the complete impact of the ruling on its five-year program.
