ELR Citation: 51 ELR 20149
No(s). 1:19-CV-00703-WJ-JFR (D.N.M. Aug 3, 2021) (Johnson, J.)

A district court dismissed a challenge to BLM's approval of oil and gas drilling permits in the Mancos Shale in New Mexico. An environmental group argued that BLM's approval of the permits violated NEPA by failing to take a "hard look" at the drilling's impacts on water resources and air quality. The court found that BLM's decision to grant the permits was based on a consideration of relevant factors and good-faith efforts to undertake a significant assessment of the relevant environmental consequences, and that the group failed to prove the decision was arbitrary and capricious or that the agency failed to take a hard look at the environmental impact the drilling would have on the local environment. It therefore denied the group's motion for preliminary injunction and dismissed the suit.