Late Tuesday a federal judge in Wyoming ruled to temporarily halt the new federal regulations for hydraulic fracturing on Bureau of Land Managements (BLM) land. The ruling was made only hours before the regulations were scheduled to take effect.
Plantiffs from North Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Western Energy Alliance and the Independent Petroleum Association were heard.
Kathleen Sgamma, vice president of government affairs at the Western Energy Alliance, said in a statement “BLM was ill-prepared to implement an extremely complex rule in a short period of time.” Sgamma adds, “We highlighted how the BLM Washington office has not given sufficient guidance to the state and field offices that are implementing the rule, and as a result they were issuing confused instructions to companies on how to comply.”
The preliminary ruling could be lifted, but until the matter is resolved, the BLM will follow the court’s order and will continue to process applications for permit to drill and inspect well sites under its pre-existing regulations.
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