California AG and New Mexico AG Filed Lawsuit against BLM Over Suspension of Methane Waste Prevention Rule

DECEMBER 19, 2017

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) challenging its decision to suspend the Methane Waste Prevention Rule, which “went into effect on January 17, 2017 but was illegally suspended by the Trump Administration on December 8, 2017. The Rule requires oil and natural gas producers to cut wasteful leakage of methane on federal lands.” In their lawsuit, AG Becerra and AG Balderas “underscored that suspending key provisions of the Rule would be arbitrary and capricious as well as contrary to BLM’s statutory mandate to prevent waste and ensure the safe and responsible development of oil and gas resources on public lands.”