ELR Citation: 49 ELR 20063
No(s). C 17-5948 SBA (N.D. Cal. Mar 29, 2019) (Armstrong, J.)

A district court granted California's and New Mexico's motion for summary judgment in an APA challenge to DOI's repeal of the Valuation Rule and its restoration of prior regulations governing payment of royalties on oil, gas, and coal extracted pursuant to leases of federal and Indian lands. The court found the agency failed to satisfy its obligation to explain the inconsistencies between its prior findings in enacting the rule and its decision to repeal the rule. The states also argued that the agency's proposal to repeal the rule failed to adequately inform the public of its rationale for the repeal, in violation of APA notice-and-comment requirements. The court agreed, finding that merely identifying some of the agency's concerns with the rule was not enough to comply with the APA. By failing to provide the requisite information to adequately apprise the public regarding the reasons the agency was seeking to repeal the rule in favor of the former regulations, the agency effectively precluded interested parties from meaningfully commenting on the proposed repeal. The court therefore vacated DOI's repeal.