ELR Citation: 53 ELR 20177
No(s). 23-30666 (5th Cir. Nov 14, 2023)

The Fifth Circuit dismissed intervening environmental groups' challenge to a district court order requiring the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to hold an oil and gas lease sale on the outer continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. The state of Louisiana and oil companies initially sued BOEM and sought a preliminary injunction, arguing the Bureau violated the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) by changing the sale terms one month before the deadline, removing six million acres and restricting vessel activity to protect the endangered Rice's whale. The district court granted the injunction, set aside the changed terms as unlawful, and ordered BOEM to hold the sale before the IRA's September 30, 2023, deadline. Four environmental groups intervened to challenge the injunction. But the court found the "chain of events" needed to show that the activities resulting from the sale without the changed terms could harm one of the whales and diminish a group member's recreational or aesthetic interests was so attenuated that the alleged harm was not "certainly impending." It dismissed the groups' challenge for lack of standing, and amended the preliminary injunction by extending the deadline for conducting the sale to December 20, 2023.