ELR Citation: 55 ELR 20020
No(s). 2:23-CV-00804-TC-DBP (D. Utah Feb 4, 2025) (Campbell, J.)

A district court granted the state of Utah's and an oil and gas company's motions to dismiss a challenge to four leasing decisions made from 2018 through 2019, under which BLM issued 145 oil and gas leases on public lands throughout eastern Utah. An environmental group argued BLM violated NEPA and the ESA by failing to issue an EIS or EA on the impacts of oil drilling, failing to adhere to congressionally required notice-and-comment procedure, failing to explore middle-ground alternatives to selling total surface development rights for the land, and failing to consult with FWS on the threat to endangered or threatened species and their habitats. Utah and the company moved to dismiss, arguing the group's claims were not ripe because the leases had been suspended and BLM was still conducting environmental reviews pursuant to NEPA and had yet to make a final, reviewable decision about whether it would reinstate the issued leases. The court found that even though leases had already been issued, their issuance was immaterial to whether BLM had made a "final decision" because they had been suspended with no imminent or certain reinstatement, and thus that the group's claims would not be ripe until the conclusion of BLM's supplemental EIS. It granted the motions to dismiss.