ELR Citation: 55 ELR 20009
No(s). 20-35609, 20-35614, 20-35615, 20-35291, 20-35293, 20-35294, 22-35532, 22-35533, and 22-35549 (9th Cir. Jan 17, 2025)

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part two district court rulings in lawsuits concerning policies governing oil and gas lease sales conducted by BLM on protected sage-grouse habitat. Environmental groups filed suit in Idaho and Montana, challenging certain sales conducted under guidance revised by BLM in 2018 to (1) adopt new language specifying that the requirement to prioritize leasing outside sage-grouse habitat applied only where there was a backlog in the agency's capacity to process expressions of interest in land parcels, and (2) shorten the public comment period required for reviewing the parcels under NEPA and for protesting sales under FLPMA. The Montana court concluded BLM's June 2018 Wyoming sale violated FLPMA because it failed to comply with the prioritization objective in the agency's 2015 land management plan, and the Idaho court concluded that five 2018 sales occurring in Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah violated NEPA's and FLPMA's public participation requirements. Both courts vacated the guidance and the lease sales. The appellate court affirmed the Montana court's conclusion that the June 2018 Wyoming sale violated FLPMA and the Idaho court's conclusion that the sales in Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah violated FLPMA, but it found that the June 2018 Wyoming and Nevada sales, and sale of 124 parcels during the September 2018 Wyoming sale, did not violate NEPA because BLM retained a 30-day comment period. It held that the Idaho court abused its discretion in vacating the lease sales, and that the leases should remain in place upon remand to BLM, but it enjoined all surface-disturbing activity while the agency considers the leasing decisions in compliance with appropriate public participation process.