Thirteen AGs Filed Comments Warning BLM against Proceeding with Arctic Refuge Lease Sale Before Considering Public Input

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson led a coalition of 13 attorneys general in filing comments in response to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) call for nominations and comments on tracts of land proposed for oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In their comments, the attorneys general called on BLM to withdraw its notice of sale and to not hold a lease sale until the bureau has “thoroughly reviewed and considered all nominations, information, and comments” received during the public comment period. By proceeding without doing so, the attorneys general warned, BLM would “abandon its established practice and disregard the regulatory process it purports to follow,” and “contravene[] the important and fundamental role that the nomination and public comment period plays in informing the Coastal Plain lease sale.” The AGs concluded that in its “reckless rush to hold a lease sale before the inauguration” the bureau “has cut corners and foreclosed meaningful public input, making the public comment and nomination process a sham.”