ELR Citation: ELR 20092
No(s). 79-1768 (D.C. Cir. Dec 20, 1979)

The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirms a lower court decision refusing to issue a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Secretary of the Interior from conducting further lease sales for oil and exploration on the outer continental shelf until regulations implementing a full range of alternative bidding systems have been adopted. The Secretary's continued use of cash bonus-fixed royalty bidding does not violate the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978. Congress expressly provided that such bidding be used for at least 40 percent of all leases for five years after enactment of the 1978 amendments, and the legislative history confirms Congress' intention that the cash bonus-fixed royalty bidding option be used in conjunction with experimental use of other systems. Acknowledging that the Secretary's delay in issuing regulations establishing alternative bidding systems or experimenting more widely with those systems may at some point constitute a violation of the Act, the court holds that the government's actions to date have not contravened the legislative scheme.

Counsel for Plaintiffs-Appellants
John Silard, Joseph L. Rauh, Jr., Jonathan I. Schiller
Rauh, Silard & Lichtman
1001 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington DC 20006
(202) 331-1795

Counsel for Defendants-Appellees
Robert L. Klarquist, Sanford Sagalkin, Peter R. Steenland, Jr., Bruce C. Rashkow, Larry A. Boggs
Land and Natural Resources Division
Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 633-2731

Before: LEVENTHAL^* and WALD, Circuit Judges and NICHOLS^**, Judge, United States Court of Claims.